Category: Awards

Racing Welfare has scooped a silver at the Smiley Charity Film Awards on 20th March, in recognition of the charity’s impactful 2023 Mental Health Awareness Week film.

The winners were announced at a prestigious gala ceremony in Leicester Square’s iconic ODEON Luxe cinema, the stage for many royal, global and European film premieres. From 15 finalists within their category decided by a public vote, the expert panel of judges deemed Racing Welfare’s film worthy of the silver award, pipped to the post only by breast cancer awareness charity, CoppaFeel! who took the gold.

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, Racing Welfare commissioned and showcased the film that depicts anxiety building up for a racehorse trainer. It was created in conjunction with Equine Productions and shows typical day-to-day scenarios that can build up to create challenges to mental health.

The charity led racing’s response to this important awareness campaign, aiming to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of anxiety, normalising conversations and signposting to support services. Racing welfare also called for people working in the industry to take action for their own mental health or for the mental health of others in the racing community.

The film was well received across the week with over 87,000 views on social media and was broadcast on RacingTV’s Luck On Sunday.

Racing Welfare’s head of communications and marketing, Nicki Strong said: “It was a huge honour for our film to be recognised by an expert panel comprising high-profile and influential people from the worlds of fundraising, business, entertainment and media. We are extremely proud of the film and the role it played in spearheading our mental health campaign, and that it resonated with both those within and outside of the racing community. We’d like to say a huge thank you to Equine Productions for expertly bringing our vision to life, our actor Charlie Smith for giving his time and to Warren Greatrex and his team for allowing us to film at Rhonehurst.”

Chloe Martin, head of community engagement at Racing Welfare was instrumental in the campaign delivery and creation of the film. She added: “I’m immensely proud that our charity was recognised for producing some of the best work of the year, sitting right up there alongside the biggest names and most universally recognised causes in the charity sector.

“So many of our team contributed to the concept behind the film, the overall campaign and even more so to the mental health support services that it was promoting, so I hope they are as proud as I am of the part they played in this achievement.”

The Charity Film Awards are one of the largest charity events of the year and this year over 500 entries were received in total.

Organisers said: “These finalists represent the best in cause-based storytelling, each film showcasing a unique narrative that resonates with the ethos of philanthropy and social impact.

We invite you to explore the profound stories these films tell and the significant causes they champion.”

 

On Saturday 3^rd December, Epsom’s racing community celebrated their successes of 2022 at a glittering black-tie awards ceremony, hosted by Racing Welfare. The ever-popular event, sponsored by the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA), took place at Epsom Downs racecourse and saw 11 awards presented to the owners and trainers of the best horses trained in the locality.

Jim Boyle’s stable star of 2022, Going Gone, was the recipient of two awards: Best Turf Horse and Horse Of The Year, following an excellent turf campaign. The four-year-old gelding by Le Havre started off his season with a win at Epsom back in April. He followed up that effort later in the year being narrowly beaten at Ascot in the Shergar Cup and winning a valuable handicap at Doncaster, before closing with a very creditable 6^th place in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket.

As well as the best equine stars of the region being recognised on the night, plaudits were served up to deserving individuals in the community. Epsom’s Stable Manager, Dominic Toole, was recognised with the Stanley Wooton Award for his outstanding contribution to Epsom as a training and racing centre; and Caroline Agnew was awarded the Racing Welfare Dedication to Racing Trophy for continuing to show her dedication to the people and horses of Epsom, despite receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2021.

The event, which was in it’s 23^rd year, raises much needed funds for Racing Welfare. Proceeds from the ticket sales and auction will go towards support services which benefit those working in and retired from the horseracing and Thoroughbred breeding industry.

Dawn Goodfellow, chief executive of Racing Welfare said: “Congratulations to all the winners at this year’s Epsom Owners’ and Trainer’s Awards. Thanks must go to our ever loyal and generous sponsors for their support of the evening, not least the ROA for their headline sponsorship.

“It is wonderful to see the local community coming together in celebration of their achievements. I’d like to thank all the owners, trainers and racing staff that attended and supported the event for another year.”

Full list of awards and winners at the 2022 ROA Epsom Owners’ and Trainers’ Awards:

 

Stanley Wooton Award (recognising the outstanding contribution by an individual to Epsom as a training and racing centre) – sponsored by Epsom Downs Racecourse: Dominic Toole

 

Sir David Prosser Trophy (for the Epsom trainer with the most winners in a calendar year) – sponsored by Orbital Veterinary Services: Adam West

 

Racing Welfare Dedication to Racing Trophy – sponsored by RaceTech: Caroline Agnew

 

Best Two-Year-Old – sponsored by ROA VAT: Rocking Ends (Brett Johnson)

 

Best Three-Year-Old – sponsored by Shotter & Byers: Live In The Dream (Adam West)

 

Best Older Horse – sponsored by Moss Electrical: Epsom Faithfull (Pat Phelan)

 

Best Turf Horse – sponsored by J&J Franks: Going Gone (Jim Boyle)

 

All-Weather Performer – sponsored by All-Weather Championships: Dembe (Brett Johnson)

 

Horse with the most wins – sponsored by The Fat Jockey Partnership: Noahthirtytwored (Adam West)

 

Most improved handicapper – sponsored by Rightsure: Lethal Angel (Brett Johnson)

 

Horse Of The Year – sponsored by ROA: Going Gone (Jim Boyle)

Freelance racing and bloodstock sales photographer Nicola Paramo has today, Friday 26 October, been crowned the winner of this year’s CATS Personal Development Awards at Newmarket racecourse.

The award, which is sponsored by Hartpury University for a second year, recognises the person who has put the most dedication and effort into developing their career in racing after using Racing Welfare’s Careers Advice and Training Service (CATS). The judging panel were looking for someone who has been proactive and taken every opportunity available to develop themselves in the racing industry.

After reviewing an incredibly strong field of entries, the judges shortlisted three nominees whose achievements were celebrated at a lunch event, where the overall winner was revealed. Nicola was presented with a trophy and a unique prize relevant to her specific developmental goals.

Nicola initially accessed CATS for some careers coaching when she had aspirations of setting up a freelance business offering sales photos and videos to the industry, as well as social media management. The coaching supported her in taking the next steps, and she then accessed a CATS grant to help her invest in the specialist equipment she needed. Since then, her business has taken off and she has provided photography for a number of trainers including Sir Mark Prescott, whose social media accounts she now manages. This year, Nicola has provided her first sales imagery and videos, and will be working with more industry stakeholders.

Speaking about CATS from the awards lunch, Nicola said: “It’s a really friendly service, if there’s anything you want to know you just contact them – they’re very approachable and if there’s anything you need to know you can just ask.”

On receiving her award, she added: “I was a bit shocked to be nominated to be honest, and even more shocked to win; I’m just very thankful to Emma who nominated me and the panel for choosing me. It’s something that will look great on your CV and it has been a really enjoyable day.”

Catherine Porter, Head of Hartpury University’s Equine Department, selected the winner. She said: “It was hard to choose a winner from three really strong finalists, but I chose Nicola Paramo as it was a clever initiative and she utilised CATS well to support her venture – as noted in her nomination, it is niche and she looks to be carving out a good business for herself.

“It is a pleasure to continue our support of the CATS Personal Development Award again this year. Our partnerships with organisations within the horseracing industry allow us to continue to develop qualifications that enhance the career prospects of students at Hartpury and to lead best practice for horses, riders and professionals.”

Also recognised for their commitment to personal development were finalists Julie Lingham and Jess Gillam.

After working in various roles across the industry for several years, Julie went through intensive career coaching with CATS to realise her passion.  Following her coaching sessions, Julie put in the work to research and apply for her dream job as an Equine Welfare Integrity Officer with the BHA. She continued working with CATS to update her CV and to prepare for her job interview, being offered the job in April this year.

Jess accessed the CATS career coaching service to explore further opportunities and develop her career in the horseracing industry. Jess has been proactive in her career journey, taking all continuous professional development opportunities available to her including successfully applying to the Thoroughbred Horseracing Industry MBA. She is now part of the delivery team for the Regional Staff Development Programme and continues to develop her career in the industry alongside studying for her MBA.

The Careers Advice & Training Service (CATS) has now been suspended. Via our welfare officers and our support line, beneficiaries can still access careers advice, support, signposting to job boards and industry bodies as well as training grants.

Racing Welfare and the Racehorse Owners Association (ROA) have teamed up to provide two glittering black-tie awards events for the industry as part of their ongoing partnership.

The Northern Racing Awards and Epsom Owners’ and Trainers’ Awards seek to recognise the achievements of their respective regional communities.

These two hugely popular annual events see owners, trainers, jockeys and stable staff, as well as other professionals from the racing industry come together for an evening of celebration with dinner, a drinks reception and dancing.

Dawn Goodfellow, chief executive of Racing Welfare said: “We’re delighted to once again be hosting these awards, which enable us to shine a light on some of racing’s star performers and standout moments from the past year, while bringing together the local racing communities.

“It is thanks to the generosity of our sponsors that these events are possible, so we’d like to extend our grateful thanks to ROA for once again showing their support as headline sponsors.”

Charlie Liverton, CEO ROA added “We are delighted to be partnering with Racing Welfare to support the Northern and Epsom Awards. The work that Racing Welfare undertake and the support they provide to those who care for and look after our horses, day in day out, is invaluable to the entire racing community. These awards provide us with the opportunity to help show our gratitude to all those people  who support our great industry across the country”.

The ROA Northern Racing Awards take place on 25^th November 2022 at Newcastle racecourse. Tickets are £95 per person with subsidised stable staff tickets available at £45 per person. For more information or to book: https://racingwelfare.co.uk/events-archive/northern-racing-awards/

BOOK YOUR TICKETS/TABLES HERE – Buy tickets / Join the guestlist – The ROA Northern Racing Awards – Newcastle Racecourse, Fri 25 Nov 2022 6:30 PM – 11:45 PM (tickettailor.com)

The ROA Epsom Owners’ and Trainers’ Awards take place on 3^rd December 2022 at Epsom racecourse. Tickets are £90 per person with subsidised stable staff tickets available at £55 per person. For more information or to book: The ROA Epsom Owners’ and Trainers’ Awards – Racing Welfare

 

British Horseracing’s people charity, Racing Welfare, has been highly commended at the Inside Out Awards in the Third Party Influence category. The prestigious awards ceremony on 24 March at The Troxy in London set out to celebrate individuals & companies that have inspired positive change, true commitment and courageousness to enable real change within their field towards creating mentally healthier workplaces during the past year.

The Third-Party Influence category is dedicated to the employer/organisation who has best influenced beyond its own walls e.g. the supply chain or into their own client base, and Racing Welfare was able to demonstrate that through the charity’s work in championing mental health education and support across the horseracing industry.

In particular, Racing Welfare’s Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) programme of education has trained over 469 people in a variety of horseracing workplaces. This includes 179 Mental Health First Aiders, 260 Mental Health Awareness attendees and 30 people for MHFA refresher courses.

Two members of Racing Welfare staff have been shortlisted for the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards 2022.

Volunteer Coordinator Jen Gates and Welfare Officer Helen Wilson were both nominated for the community award, which recognises any individual connected directly or indirectly to horseracing, including auxiliary and administrative staff, who demonstrate the social responsibility and values of our sport. Nominees are selfless, passionate people, who go above and beyond their everyday roles or jobs to make a positive difference to the lives of people or racehorses within the industry, or to the communities within which racing operates.