Young people from Dame Kelly Holmes Trust’s flagship, “Get on Track programme”, which uses world class athletes to empower young people facing disadvantage to realise the attitudes they need to fulfil a positive life celebrated their self-discovery journey, successes and new attitudes towards life with an exciting visit to Aintree Racecourse. This was arranged as part of Racing Together’ s partnership with Dame Kelly Holmes Trust and Aintree Racecourse.

The group were greeted by Aintree enthusiast Jane, one of the official tour guides for the Jockey Club.

Ben Barnes, National Programmes Officer, Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, said:

“Starting off in the old jockey weighing room, it felt like the perfect place to build up the atmosphere on what Aintree is all about. Walls and ceilings all decorated beautifully with past memorabilia from some of the finest races delivered, with sweat, blood and tears still visible on an array of jerseys with stories that will last a lifetime. The tour was exceptionally well led and presented from the start: historical routes moving on through each building bringing us up- to- date with how the event has rapidly developed and what actually takes place on the day, from the modern day weigh-in; to the preparation rooms, you could literally feel running through the blood.

“We were soon to be led out on the course to the finish line where Aintree’s most famous grave resides, Red Rum. There was something special and unique about the grave that all young people couldn’t take their eyes off and obviously meant something with Aintree being an area of which they would call close to home. The in-depth knowledge from Jane was absolutely mind blowing! We have never seen young people take such a shine to someone who has devoted their life to a passion close to their heart and it was great to see the enthusiasm transferred to the young people. The tour ended with numerous people from the group now wishing to delve more into the background of Aintree and the Grand National and to also come back one day and witness the event live for themselves”.

The group then celebrated their own success in the setting of Aintree Racecourse with the aim that some of the young people will become volunteers to the Racecourse in the summer of 2016.

Sean O’Connor. Racing Together Community Engagement Manager said:

“We are delighted to be working with the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust. The Trust has impacted on the lives of 200,000 young people in Great Britain. It is great that the Trust is excited to be working with British Racing to introduce young people to Horseracing and the diverse opportunities within our great Sport.”

Notes to editors:

The Dame Kelly Holmes Trust was founded in 2008 by Double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes. Their mission is to ‘get young lives on track’ by using world class athletes to empower young people facing disadvantage to realise the attitudes they need to fulfil a positive life.

Over the past eight years they have worked with over 300,000 young people from a range of diverse backgrounds. This means that they understand the complex and often multiple factors which act as barriers towards young people facing disadvantage leading a positive life.

They support young people (between the ages of 14-25) who are in an unfavourable circumstance or condition that reduces the chances of success or effectiveness. Some of the young people they engage with are full-time carers, face issues such as disability or homelessness, or have experienced a challenging upbringing. Others have had a better start in life, but have lost their way and are struggling in the testing social and economic climate.

In partnership with voluntary, statutory and business partners across the UK, they deliver a range of tailored programmes through our unique team of athletes, who are trained to deliver transformational and inspirational support to young people facing disadvantage. They focus on cultivating and growing the key attitudes in young people (confidence, resilience, determination, focus and motivation) as the outcomes of success. Many of these attitudes are accelerated or amplified through the effective mentoring from our athlete team, which then leads to young people behaving in ways which lead to positive life outputs; such as being healthy, achieving in education, involvement in meaningful activities and career success.