A group of students from Queen Margaret Academy School will attend Ayr Racecourse on Thursday 6th October, 2011 as the result of a partnership that has been implemented between The Prince’s Trust and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). The aim of the day is to give the students an overview of the racing industry, and showcase the huge range of employment opportunities that exist within the sport for young people.
This unique opportunity to gain an insight into how a day at the races works, will commence with an introduction by racecourse Head of PR Iain Ferguson and will be followed by a number of sessions with the people who make a raceday happen. The students will walk the track with the Clerk of the Course, visit the stable yard, accompany the Starter to his position and enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of the weighing room and enquiry room with the Clerk of the Scales and Stipendiary Stewards.
With around 20% of young people aged 16-24 not in work, education or training in Scotland, youth charity The Prince’s Trust helps disadvantaged young people to overcome the barriers to achieving this and to gain the confidence, skills and motivation needed to find future employment and training opportunities. British Horseracing became involved with the charity through its partnership with sport which works closely with over 100 key partners including Governing Bodies of UK Sport and other Sporting Organisations to deliver sport linked programmes that engage, motivate and develop young people.
The partnership between the BHA and The Prince’s Trust launched in November 2008, providing the Racing Experience Days to The Prince’s Trust xl programme. xl Clubs are run in schools nationwide for pupils in Years 10 and 11 who are at risk of truanting and underachievement. In 2010, xl Club members visited Ascot, Newmarket, Beverley, Cheltenham, Doncaster and Ffos Las.
Chris Brand, Acting Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority said:
“Racing directly employs over 20,000 people, with another 70,000 working in related sectors, so it has a big impact on communities up and down the country – no other sport employs so many people across such a wide range of jobs and locations. We, as a sport, want to use this network to help young people and we are grateful to the racecourses and industry employees who have been more than happy to offer their resources to such a worthy cause.”
Tom Keer, Head of Sport at The Prince’s Trust added:
“We are hugely grateful to the BHA for its support through the delivery of the Racing Experience Days. I am pleased to say that since our partnership began we have helped over 100 young people through the sport. And I am delighted to see the partnership go from strength to strength as we look to develop new ways to work together.”
Iain Ferguson, Head of PR at Ayr Racecourse said:
“We are delighted to welcome the Prince’s Trust, BHA and pupils from Queen Margaret Academy to the course for the racing experience day.
“It is particularly fitting that such a high profile local school is involved as we at Ayr pride ourselves on being an integral part of the community. We feel this is a marvellous initiative and look forward to welcoming everyone on the day.”
