Racing raises over £2.2 million for charities in 2019

Racing raised over £2.2 million for more than 250 charities last year, according to an audit undertaken by Racing Together and the Racecourse Association.

The organisations revealed that over 90 per cent of British racecourses have shared details of last year’s community engagement activities as part of the annual survey, which covered topics such as volunteering, fundraising, donations raised and charity partnerships.

Racecourse team members volunteered over 3,100 hours and among those to benefit were Tickets for Troops, while 372 curriculum-based school trips took place, attracting in excess of 15,000 students to racecourses over the last 12 months.

A couple of stand-out examples of racing’s contribution to community causes are York Racecourse’s established Macmillan Raceday, which raised over £600,000 last year, and the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood, which was a huge success in promoting the charity’s work by contributing almost £200,000 in funds for Wellbeing of Women.

Lucy Gurney, Community Engagement Manager at Racing Together said: “We know that community engagement activity has been growing across racing and to see this evidenced in these results is brilliant.

“We're proud to support and showcase racing’s community engagement activity and look forward to continuing to help racecourses and racing businesses to be a force for good in their local communities this year. Racing Together Community Day, racing’s national day of volunteering, takes place on Thursday May 7.”

Paul Swain, Brand & Experience Manager at the RCA, commented: “The Racing Together audit has given us a multitude of good stories which demonstrate that as well as being first-class sporting venues, Racecourses can leverage the power of racing to serve as hubs which benefit the interests of their local communities.

“Alongside Racing Together, the RCA is excited to continue to work with our member racecourses to promote community engagement and share both the significant impact and fantastic stories generated with the nation.”

View and download the Racing Together brochure showcasing racing’s community engagement activity here:

Read The Lowdown from 8.30am daily on racingpost.com and the Racing Post app for all the day's going updates, news and tips