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1 Dec 2023
Ascot Racecourse were crowned champions of the Racing Foundation Green Award at the Racecourse Association (RCA) Showcase Awards which took place at Aintree Racecourse in November.
The prize, now in its second year, celebrates racecourses’ initiatives in promoting environmental sustainability and allows the winner a fast-tracked route to bid for up to £20,000 from the Racing Foundation to support the legacy of this work.
Ascot claimed the prize for their outstanding Racing to Zero programme which saw the world-famous racecourse run a carbon-neutral enclosure at Royal Ascot and implement a range of initiatives designed to cut the racecourse’s environmental impact.
‘Racing To Zero’ was launched in 2022, setting out the ambition of halving emissions by 2030 and aiming to achieve net-zero by 2040.
One of the first steps on that journey was to achieve net zero within the Village Enclosure during Royal Ascot 2023, building on a net-zero restaurant in 2022.
The project spanned many areas including procurement, maintenance, estates, grounds, catering, cleaning, waste, logistics and marketing.
Welcoming 20,310 customers across the final three days of Royal Ascot, carbon emissions were close to 50% less when compared to previous operation and recycling rose by 55% helping to deliver a net-zero enclosure for the first time ever on a British racecourse.
“Taking Ascot Racecourse on this sustainability journey is already reaping many rewards and we were absolutely thrilled to win the Racing Foundation Green Award,” said Jonathan Parker, Managing Director of Ascot’s Catering division 1711 by Ascot.
“An enormous amount of research and planning went into this year’s net zero Village Enclosure at Royal Ascot as we build towards a sustainable future and it is great to see the team rewarded for all their hard work.”
Kelso racecourse received a Highly Commended accolade for their rainwater/drainwater harvesting pond which has reaped both environmental and financial benefits for the borders track.
“The idea for the water harvesting scheme came after we conducted a topographical survey of the racecourse and realised that we could combine a project to improve the track’s drainage with our aspiration to source water more responsibly,” said Managing Director Jonathan Garratt.
“Whereas previously we sometimes had to use water from the mains, we can now recycle water through the drainage system and store it for future use.
“The new pond system provides a more diverse ecosystem for wildlife too and we are excited about the potential to develop this further.
“It was an honour to collect a highly commended award for the scheme and it will certainly spur us on to action more of our ideas that improve the sustainability of the business.”
2023 was the second running of the Racing Foundation Green Awards at the RCA Showcase Awards, with the Jockey Club crowned as the 2022 inaugural winner for their “Going Green” Programme.
The Jockey Club have utilised its winning grant from the Racing Foundation by launching a new project to measure carbon emissions, carbon capture and removal and biodiversity at five of its sites across England. Read more about the project here.
