Spreading the word and building bridges more important than ever for workforce

It is more than three years since I joined Racing Welfare as chief executive, and my first impression soon after taking office was that it was the best-kept secret in racing. For those of you still in the dark, Racing Welfare is the Jockey Club’s official charity which offers help and support to racing’s workforce and their dependants.

Before I joined Racing Welfare, one thing I learned from my time as chief executive of the Northern Racing College is that racing is really good at berating itself for what it doesn’t do very well. But actually, there’s so much we should celebrate.

We have a world-class training system and we have two charities (Racing Welfare and the Injured Jockeys Fund) which offer first-class people-welfare services. It’s a challenging career to work in but it’s a rewarding one, too. It can make such a difference.