Ayr Racecourse has been recognised for its charity partnership with Ayrshire Cancer Support at this year’s RCA Showcase Awards held at Aintree Racecourse.
The awards were organised by the Racecourse Association in partnership with Great British Racing (GBR), Racing Post, Racing Together and Racing Foundation with entries invited from all over Great Britain.
The home of the Coral Scottish Grand National and Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup beat off stiff competition to be named the winner of the 2023 Racing Together Community Award for its work in “Raising Funds and Brand Awareness – Ayrshire Cancer Support”.
Ayr’s Partnership with Ayrshire Cancer Support was nominated alongside projects run by Aintree, Haydock, Windsor and York with the judges deciding that Ayr’s work with such a worthy and well-run local charity was worthy of the top accolade.
The groundstaff at Ayr had already done a tremendous job by winning the award as Best Dual Purpose track in Britain against all the other racecourses which stage both Flat and Jumps racing but Graeme Anderson and his fantastic team just missed out on the main overall award which was given to their colleagues at Plumpton in Sussex.
A spokesperson for the judges of the Racing Together Community Award said:
“Ayr’s work to partner with Ayrshire Cancer Support was acknowledged by the judges as a long standing partnership which has continued to develop, with the racecourse using its extensive support network to generate awareness, funds and engagement with the charity on a laudable scale.”
Ayrshire Cancer Support added:
“Congratulations to Ayr. We are so immensely grateful. From all of us here, thankyou for your continuing support of our organisation.”
RCA (Racecourse Association) Chairman Wilf Welsh added his appreciation:
” Our class of 2023 represents a range of racecourses operating at the highest levels in their respective fields and I am encouraged by the levels of innovation shown as we look to attract and retain racegoers.”
Thank you from all of us to everyone who helped make this award happen.