NEW ROLE SET TO SUPPORT THE THOROUGHBRED BREEDING SECTOR, THANKS TO FUNDING FROM THE GERALD LEIGH CHARITABLE TRUST
Earlier this year, three-year funding was secured from the Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust enabling the creation of an exciting new role at Racing Welfare to specifically support the Thoroughbred breeding sector.
The role forms part of a new community engagement department at Racing Welfare, its core purpose being to increase awareness of Racing Welfare and the charity’s services for both employers and employees within the stud and breeding sector – a sector that has historically been harder for the charity to reach, especially in the more rural locations.
Racing Welfare were delighted to appoint Hetta Harris to the Outreach and Engagement Officer (Thoroughbred Stud & Breeding Sector) role in May this year. Hetta has been a visible face around the sales, either working for consignments or buying and selling horses. She comes with a wealth of knowledge about the industry, having recently run her own successful pre-training business in Wiltshire and, prior to that, training for Qatar Racing at Robins Farm in Surrey. This followed stints in America and Australia, both in training and stud operations. Hetta is also a trustee at the British Racing School.
Hetta is currently working to identify Racing Welfare’s existing contact with the breeding community as well as identifying areas that may have had less contact with the charity or have less awareness of services, working with various stakeholders and Racing Welfare’s regional welfare teams to better understand this. Racing Welfare hope to have a strong presence at the sales to engage with and listen to members of the stud and breeding community, to better understand what they might require from the charity for the health of their workforce over the years to come.
Hetta said: “I am delighted to have joined Racing Welfare and to focus on the Stud and Breeding Community. There is a lot that Racing Welfare can offer this sector of the industry and I hope we can grow our support in the months to come. Having been involved for many years in a hands-on capacity, managing and working alongside staff, my experience will be beneficial in identifying the areas we can make a difference in.”
Speaking on behalf of The Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust, Sarah Whitney said: “We are delighted to be continuing to support the charitable work of Racing Welfare with the development of this new initiative to appoint a dedicated Engagement and Outreach Officer specifically for the bloodstock and breeding industry. The Gerald Leigh Charitable Trust really hopes that more people working within these workplaces will be made fully aware of all the many services which Racing Welfare offers to both employers and employees. The Trust really encourages people to access Racing Welfare’s wonderful assistance and seek their invaluable support which we hope will make a positive difference to many people’s lives.”
As part of Hetta’s role and to fully understand how we can better support the Stud & Breeding community, Racing Welfare is asking for 5 minutes of your time to complete a simple survey about your awareness of our services.
Take part here: surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6RD877Z