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 Standards Trust (BHEST) 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 would go on to raise nearly £12,000 for Havens Hospices.

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, Macmillan Cancer Care, 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

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.

"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."
Fraser Garrity, Racecourse Manager

Schools and Education

Chelmsford City Racecourse welcomes children to the races, especially at dedicated family racedays, and supports a number of local schools with their fundraising activities throughout the year with donations of complimentary tickets as raffle and auction prizes throughout the year.

The British Horseracing Education and Standards Trust (BHEST) is 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 BHEST’s flagship 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.

Through the many courses provided by the British Racing School based in Newmarket, we have also been delighted to provide their delegates with a raceday experience to enhance their understanding of the sport.

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!