Racing Welfare hails 'huge boost' as Covid-19 appeal reaches £250,000

Racing Welfare's Covid-19 emergency appeal eclipsed the £250,000 mark in donations on Wednesday.

The appeal is aiming to raise £500,000 to make up for the money lost as a result of spring and summer fundraising events being cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Dawn Goodfellow, chief executive of Racing Welfare, said: "The impact of Covid-19 has been felt throughout the racing industry. For us the cancellation of many of our usual fundraising events has seen us face a huge income deficit at a time when our services have never been needed more.

Donate to Racing Welfare's Covid-19 emergency appeal here

"The generosity of the racing community in response to our Covid-19 emergency appeal has been truly inspiring and to be able to announce that we have passed the halfway mark of £250,000 is a huge boost."

Numerous campaigns have been utilised to raise money for the appeal, including the Furlong Factor, a singing competition which pitted prominent names in racing against each other.

Events such as Royal Ascot virtual preview nights have also taken place to boost funds.

Since the resumption of racing, the charity has asked people to donate the equivalent amount of what they might normally have paid for a ticket.

Goodfellow added: "Please consider donating to Racing Welfare. Your donations really do count and reaching our £500k target will enable us to continue supporting the workforce that make racing the wonderful sport that it is."

Read more:

Racing Welfare breaks through £50,000 fundraising target with Furlong Factor

Gobsmacked: Telfer hits the right notes to be crowned Furlong Factor winner

Pat Smullen charity race helps raise over €100,000 to purchase genetic sequencer

Place a bet of £1 or more on any UK or Irish race on racingpost.com to watch it live. Click the 'Watch Live' icon at the top of the racecard when it's due to start to watch the full race