Five Go… active in Scotland for Community day
All five Scottish racecourses, as well as their representative body known as Scottish Racing, came together on 9th May to participate in the third annual Racing Together Community Day—British Racing’s national day of volunteering.
Racecourse staff in Scotland pledged their time to volunteer for their local communities by working on a range of projects, from planting flowers to baking cakes.
The Racing Together Community Day provides racecourses and all racing stakeholders with an opportunity and focus to engage with their local area, to make a practical difference and to build lasting relationships with their communities.
Perth Racecourse were first out of the gate ahead of the big day by giving up their time to help plant flowers around the city to support Perth in Bloom.
Delly Innes, Manager of Scottish Racing said:
“The five racecourses in Scotland have a particular importance in their local areas by generating £24.6m off-course income and sustaining 290 jobs by near-course activity. We are also in a unique position to make a genuine difference to local communities by offering our time, and the teams themselves have always commented on how much they enjoy giving something back.”
Racing Manager, Sulekha Varma, who also leads Hamilton Park Racecourse’s Community Engagement Programme, said:
“Hamilton Park is dedicated to continually working to help our local community in as many ways as we can. Being a part of Racing Together’s Community Day is an opportunity for us to come together with other racing-related businesses and charities to demonstrate that commitment.
“In addition to today’s conservation work with the South Lanarkshire Countryside Rangers, we have recently been working alongside the Bothwell Road Action Group to assist them in improving the Bothwell Road Park. We have also built ties with local schools who will be attending educational Racing to School days later in the summer, and one school will be completing a lunch-club project around the history of the racecourse.
“We are conscious of our environmental impact and we have recently installed bird and bug nesting boxes across the site and the groundstaff have built a ‘bug hotel’ from deadwood felled from trees on the parkland.”
Activities in Scotland include:
- Ayr – working closely with partner charity – Ayrshire Cancer Support – to fundraise, provide practical support and to aid their brand awareness
- Hamilton Park— part of the South Lanarkshire Countryside Rangers conservation project
- Musselburgh— supporting Musselburgh Grammar School to host pupils and staff for workshops to support their employability needs
- Perth—tending to local flowerbeds in preparation for ‘Perth in Bloom’
- Kelso – a local litter pick
- Scottish Racing – baking and selling cakes for the charity, Headway, who are running the Charity Tearoom at Kelso Racecourse on 8th May.
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