An active role

Community Engagement

Our Commitment

Chelmsford City Racecourse takes an enormous amount of pride in being able to take an active role within both the racing and local community continuing to build links by staging local events and volunteering throughout the year.

We actively support the British Horseracing Education and Racing to School which helps introduce racing to schools through tailored activity days and educational support packs.

Donations to more than 200 local charities each year

£12,000 raised through Family Fun Day in 2021

Annual volunteer work on 'Give and Gain Day'

Increased investments in sustainability

Charities

Chelmsford City Racecourse is proud to support a variety of local, national and racing charities throughout the year.

Family Fun Days have played a massive role in the racecourse’s ability to support charities over the years. In 2019 the racecourse held two of these popular racedays for Help for Heroes and Havens Hospices with £11,239.88 and £10,422.71 being raised respectively. The racecourse returned with another Family Fun Day in 2021 and 2022 raising nearly £23,500 for deserving charities.

More than 200 local charities, community groups and businesses benefit each year either through monetary contributions or through complimentary tickets for use as raffle and auction prizes.

Beneficiaries have included the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, Tickets for Troops, the Women’s Institute, Sanctus Homeless Shelter, Farleigh Hospice, Macmillan Cancer Care, Kids Inspire, Cancer Research, The J’s Hospice, Havens Hospices and the Injured Jockeys Fund, among others.

"Huge thanks to all of the team at Chelmsford City Racecourse for their amazing support for Havens Hospices. Second year working with Joanne and team on the annual Family Fun day raising funds for our charity. Fabulous event, well organised and executed, it was great to see so many smiling faces enjoying a great day whilst raising a fantastic amount for Havens Hospices. We are so grateful to CCR for their continued support."
Judy Grocott, Havens Hospices

On Armistices Day in 2023 we held our first fantastic Remembrance Raceday to honour our Armed Forces for their service and sacrifice, partnering with the Royal British Legion. All past and present serviceman were invited as our guests bringing family and friends along for a memorable day of entertainment and racing. We were honoured to have The Mayor of Chelmsford Cllr Linda Mascot in attendance playing a key part in a moving wreath laying ceremony, with local RBL Standard Bearers, Bugler and the Essex Yeomanry Military Band. From on the day bucket collections and a donation from the racecourse just over £4000 was raised for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Following the success of this day we plan to bring this back for 2024!

“It was a beautiful day its always is when I come there thank you all so much for making it pleasant and very enjoyable I always feel safe and happy there thank you All happy Christmas and looking forward to coming back soon”
Brian McGinnis, Visitor

“A well organised day thank you Chelmsford City Racecourse. Royal British Legion Harwich Branch Remembers”
Patrick Ablett, Visitor

"We attended the Autism in racing event they held here and it was brilliant. The people behind putting this together did an absolutely brilliant job! They put soft play in the marquee they set up for us so the individuals with autism had their own space and it was right next to where the horses parade and walk along to get to the track.My two girls absolutely loved seeing the horses and playing with the soft play. And the sensory room was great, the girls playing the games they had in there and enjoying the different colours.All of the staff were brilliant especially the two ladies behind the bar in there. They were so bubbly and friendly and really took an interest in the children and communicated to them and continuously made the effort with us all. They helped me so much as they saw me struggling with my two and that went along way for me and really made my day."
Jade Melissa Tredget, Visitor

Community

Racing Together

Chelmsford City Racecourse works with the British Horseracing Authority-led Racing Together initiative, which seeks to give something back to the communities in which it operates around the country.

In doing so British racing invests £6.6 million a year in community engagement activities, while members of its 22,000 strong workforce donate 6,000 hours of their time each year for charitable activity.

The racecourse has been involved in Give and Gain Day, the global day of employee volunteering organised by Business in the Community (BITC). Thousands of people from hundreds of companies take part in the volunteering day and is Britain’s only nationally organised day of volunteering.

Racing’s contribution to the day has been co-ordinated by Racing Together, the community engagement strategy for the sport. The racecourse has been proud to support Give and Gain Day and has volunteered on several occasions since it opened in 2015.

In 2022 to mark Racing Together Community Day we were proud to support the Eden Project Carers week, an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlighting the challenges unpaid carers face in our communities.

Following on from last year’s success supporting the Eden Project Carers week, we once again in 2023 provided complimentary tickets to unpaid carers on 8^th June, who face tough challenges in our community. They were able to spend some well-deserved respite away from their dependants to enjoy an evening of racing. We also invited local Carer organisations along to offer valuable advice and support to those who needed it.

"It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to put something back into our community. We understand the importance of community engagement and are huge supporters of the Racing Together initiative."
JO FLAHERTY HEAD OF CHARITY AND COMMUNITY

“Thanks so much for helping make caring more visible, valued and supported this carers week, we had some good conversations with racegoers, and members of staff who are working carers.”
Veronica and Karen, Carers First

For our community day in 2023 we worked with a local charity Abberton Rural Training (ART) who deliver a programme of practical skills to residents of Essex and surrounding areas, supporting disadvantaged groups of people, with an additional focus on the Armed Forces and veterans, equipping them with skills to open up more employment opportunities.

A team of volunteers spent the day at a newly acquired site, clearing rubble, weeding, mowing and unearthing an overgrown hidden path.

"A wonderful day at #MeadowView with an amazing group of volunteers from Chelmsford City Racecourse. They have made such an enormous difference and even pulled in their Head Groundsman to help with the lawn after technical difficulties with the battery operated lawn mower! Such a brilliant day had by all, and really helping to make a positive to so many disadvantaged, vulnerable and isolated peoples lives. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and determination!"

Schools and Education

Our vision at Chelmsford City Racecourse is to bring more children to the races, introducing them to the sport as our next generation of racegoers. We achieve this through dedicated family racedays, and supporting a number of local schools with their fundraising activities with donations of complimentary tickets as raffle and auction prizes throughout the year.

Another initiative is through Racing to School, a charity which supports young people’s learning and development with the aim of encouraging an interest in horseracing both as a leisure activity and as a future career path.

“Racing to School” is an education programme, providing out of the classroom learning opportunities at racecourses, studs and training yards across the country, for over 10,000 young people every year. Many local schoolchildren benefit from access to this programme at Chelmsford City Racecourse every year.

Racing to School and Chelmsford City Racecourse welcomed children from our local school Great Leigh’s Primary for our first 2022 Racing to School day. Continuing the initiative in 2023 we also welcomed Terling Primary School, and are already planning and look forward to our next day to give another school the opportunity to get involved.

"We are so grateful to all the team at Chelmsford City for allowing the charity to invite a local school to have such a privileged day of learning. The racecourse is keen to strengthen its links with its community and we look forward to inviting more schools to take part in the programme.”
OLLIE MCPHAIL, PROGRAMME MANAGER RACING TO SCHOOL

Since opening, the racecourse has also welcomed many local groups such as Brownies and Scouts who have thoroughly enjoyed their visits. These have included seeing behind the scenes areas, being taken down to the start and even meeting some famous jockeys!

In 2022 we were proud to host our first Autism in Racing day here at the racecourse providing complimentary tickets enabling autistic children to experience a day at the races in an autism friendly environment, whilst raising awareness of the needs of families affected. Part funded by the Racing Foundation, the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Trust and the HWPA following their pilot year in 2021, we delivered a fantastic day in collaboration with Immersive Interactive.

Families with autistic children enjoyed activities including a state of the art sensory room and private activity area with games and inflatables.

This was even bigger in 2023, inviting more families and working in partnership with POP Essex; a local charity that supports the needs of SEND families in Essex. We opened up an additional space and POP Essex brought some play equipment along for the day with specialist staff to provide an even more enhanced experience for the children.

This day was two fold in delivering a special event and raising awareness for autistic children, while also supporting a local charity.

“I travelled over from Northern Ireland especially for this and it was fantastic I loved it. It was a great day the band, food all great and racing was unbelievable Thank you for a fantastic day. I will be back next year all been well”
Paul Jackson, Visitor

“It’s been a pleasure working with Jo and her colleagues at Chelmsford City Racecourse since we first spoke in early 2023.It was great for us to participate in the Autism In Racing day in August, which helped families with autistic children experience a great day at the races and helped raise our charity’s profile.We look forward to continuing our relationship in the short and long term future"
Matt Carr - Chair of Trustees POP ESSEX

“A big thank you to Jo Flaherty and the Chelmsford City Racecourse team for going above and beyond to host a first Autism in Racing day at the racecourse - one of the biggest days so far. The sensory room and bouncy castle area were enjoyed by so many local families on a beautiful sunny day. Many families I spoke to had never attended a race meeting before and were captivated by the horses walking past in the parade ring.”
Lucy Gurney, Community & Engagement Manager Racing Together