Racing Foundation funds Phase Two of the ‘Racing Home’ project

5 Oct 2023

The Racing Foundation has awarded £64,240 for Phase Two of the Racing Home project, whose chief aim is to improve the working lives of parents and carers in the horseracing industry.

These funds, alongside those granted by the Kindred Group, will be used to bolster support, education, and empowerment initiatives for all employers, employees, and self-employed workers within the racing industry.

The first phase of Racing Home, also supported by the Racing Foundation and Kindred Group, facilitated, amongst other project streams, the development of the Racing Home Portal. The portal provides a clear, easy-to-navigate central online platform offering the horseracing community information, advice and support about rights and entitlements regarding pregnancy, maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental leave, flexible working, self- employment and statutory pay.

“We are so proud to continue developing the Racing Home programme,” said Chair of Women in Racing Lucy Gurney.

“It is unique in racing but also more widely in sport to have tailored support and guidance available for working parents and we feel it is leading a cultural change that will benefit both racing’s people and the sport long-term.

“We are grateful to the Racing Foundation, Kindred and the Unibet brand, the Women in Racing committee and of course the Simply Racing team who deliver the programme in partnership with WiR.

“We know from the feedback we receive how important this work is, and how much more potential it has to support people throughout parenthood.”

Priorities for Phase Two of the Racing Home project include:

• Further development of the online portal, with expansion and enhancement of the information available to users with more best practice footage and advice. Once again, input will be sought from stud and stable staff, the training community and the corporate side of the industry to ensure the information is relevant in order to enhance the user experience.

• A further data study, using information from the work completed in Phase One will be undertaken by Dr Kate Clayton-Hathway of Oxford Brookes University. This will enrich our understanding of how existing structures are supporting women and families and will feed into the newly formed Industry People Board.

• Education modules, developed in Phase One will soon be available to the entire Thoroughbred racing and breeding community to inform a younger generation. The modules will encourage open and informed communication on a range of women and family related topics.

• The Post-Pregnancy Rehabilitation and Support Programme, in collaboration with Racing Welfare and the Injured Jockeys Fund, is a unique and innovative pilot programme of physiotherapy and rehabilitation. The Programme is aimed at returning mothers to riding and other physical work in racing post-pregnancy. This programme has been a strong success so far, offering mothers six sessions of physiotherapy, a tailored fitness plan, strength and conditioning support and gym work funded by Racing Welfare’s Workforce Wellbeing Programme. Phase Two of the project will broaden the programme enabling mothers from outside the racing hubs of Newmarket, Malton and Lambourn to now be included. Learn more.

• Promotion of good practices will feature videos and further episodes of the Racing Home podcast series hosted by Naomi Mellor, which discusses pertinent issues around family and parenthood with trainers, jockeys, researchers, experts, and a host of the sport’s decision-makers. The latest episode released today is with Amy Bannister-Bell discussing breeding horses whilst raising three adopted children. Other guests so far, include Alice Plunkett of ITV and Leo Powell of the Irish Field, each candid about their experiences, helping to elucidate how a positive future for all families in horseracing can be shaped. All previous episodes can be found on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

“Supporting and retaining working parents and carers is a vital component in ensuring a sustainable workforce for British racing,” said Chief Executive of the Racing Foundation Tansy Challis.

“The Racing Foundation is proud to fund Phase Two of the Racing Home project and looks forward to seeing the impact it makes while building on the success of the initial phase.”

There has previously been no obvious signposting for working parents in the racing and breeding industries and Racing Home aims to provide as much information as possible in a digestible fashion. All resources currently available can be found at www.racinghome.org.uk