· British Horseracing stages Race Experience Day for students as partnership with The Prince’s Trust develops in Ireland
· Down Royal Racecourse brings communities together with an exclusive behind-the-scenes day at the races for Lisburn students
A group of students from Lisnagarvey High School and a group from St Patrick’s College in Lisburn will attend Down Royal racecourse on Wednesday 3rd February, 2010 as the result of a partnership implemented between The Prince’s Trust and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). The aim of the day is to give the students an overview of the racing industry, including the range of employment opportunities that exist within the sport, and also provide the students with a well deserved treat for successful completion within a Prince’s Trust xl club.
This unique opportunity to gain an insight into how a day at the races works will commence with an introduction by Racecourse Manager Mike Todd and will be followed by a number of sessions with the people who work behind-the-scenes. The students will walk the track with the Clerk of the Course, visit the stable yard with a Veterinary Officer, accompany the Starter to his position and will get to meet Racing Official Lorcan Wyer, a former top Jockey who rode Barton to victory at the Cheltenham Festival.
With 47,000 young people not in employment, education or training in Northern Ireland, youth charity The Prince’s Trust helps disadvantaged young people to overcome the barriers to achieving this and to gain the confidence, skills and motivation needed to find future employment and training opportunities. British Horseracing became involved with the charity through Sport United, a Prince’s Trust initiative which links the Governing Bodies of UK Sport and other Sporting Organisations in order to encourage and enable disadvantaged youngsters to become more physically, economically and socially active.
The partnership between the BHA and The Prince’s Trust launched in November 2009, aiming to reward students who had successfully participated in The Prince’s Trust xl clubs, which are run in schools nationwide for pupils in Years 10 and 11 who are at risk of truanting and underachievement. xl Club members have visited York, Fontwell Park Newmarket and now Down Royal Racecourse.
Nic Coward, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority said: “Racing directly employs over 20,000 people, with another 70,000 working in related sectors, so it has a big impact on communities up and down the country – no other sport employs so many people across such a wide range of jobs and locations. We, as a sport, want to use this network to help young people and we are grateful to the racecourses and industry employees who have been more than happy to offer their resources to such a worthy cause.”
Nick Smith, Head of Sport Development at The Prince’s Trust, commented: “We are delighted that racing has become a partner of Sport United and The Prince’s Trust. We have seen first-hand how sport can change young lives, helping to develop key workplace skills such as confidence, motivation, teamwork and discipline. Through our partners such as the British Horseracing Authority, we can continue to help thousands of young people through sport.”
Michael Todd, General Manager of Down Royal Racecourse stated: “We are delighted to welcome The Prince’s Trust and students from Lisnagarvey High School and St. Patrick’s College to Down Royal Racecourse and to show them the work that goes into making a day at the races possible. We hope that they will take away a greater knowledge of the industry and a few ideas about the opportunities that may exist for them within the sport.”
For further information about The Prince’s Trust, please contact:
Kate Evans
T: 020 7543 1234
E: [email protected]
Notes to Editors:
1. More information about community work at the British Horseracing Authority can be found at: https://www.britishhorseracing.com/images/inside_horseracing/media/BHA_Community_Impact_Doc.pdf
2. More information on The Prince’s Trust can be found at:
http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/
3. The Prince’s Trust was founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1976. From a family with a long and famous interest in horseracing, the Prince was an amateur rider himself on the racecourse and maintains an interest in the sport, owning (with wife The Duchess of Cornwall) Royal Superlative, a three year old filly trained by Ralph Beckett. The filly has raced once in 2009, on the 25th May, appropriately enough at Chepstow Racecourse in Wales
