Aintree lunch raises in excess of £63,000 for racing’s people

Nearly 450 supporters joined Racing Welfare at Aintree for their annual lunch on the opening day of the Randox Grand National festival.

The lunch, supported for the first time this year by the ROA, brought together supporters from across the racing industry to celebrate the charity’s work and to raise vital funds to support people working in the horseracing industry. The event was expertly compered by Gary Capewell, who spoke to Racing Welfare beneficiary, Hannah Benson, about the help she’d received after falling from a horse at work. She told the room: “Racing is extremely lucky to have Racing Welfare, it’s huge what the charity does.”

The event raised over £63,000 for Racing Welfare, with the live auction contributing more than £10,000 of that total. Top lots included bespoke colours from the BHA, an original artwork painted by Birdie during the event and a behind the scenes experience with ITV Racing.

Racing Welfare’s chief executive, Dawn Goodfellow, said: “Thank you to everyone that made the Aintree lunch such a success – it was wonderful to see so many people joining us from different corners of our industry. The funds raised are going to help us continue to provide our life-changing services to people like Hannah – we are really grateful to her for joining us at the event and sharing her story. Thanks also to the Jockey Club North West team and Jockey Club Catering for providing such a fantastic facility, and to everyone that donated in support of our auction and other fundraising activity on the day.”