Wetherby’s next race meeting on Wednesday, November 26, is their now annual community raceday.  As with all good ideas, it started small and has grown significantly, supporting different local communities, who when you drill down into it, have a common theme.

In addition to regular racegoers, Wetherby will be welcoming Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE), Racing Welfare beneficiaries, Racing To School, Racing TV Club members and the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme team.

Back in 2022, Wetherby racecourse connected with WiSE, a neighbourhood network and charity.  It supports people over the age of 60 in Wetherby and runs a varied activities programme, volunteer transport, gives information and advice and offers a dementia service.  It is open to anyone over 60 and currently the only referrals are for the dementia service.

WiSE held their first event at the racecourse in March 2022 and this year, they will be taking 40 people where they are provided with a private hospitality suite, refreshments and a tipster talk.

Debbie, the activities coordinator told me,

“We’re so well looked after at Wetherby.  Our friends really enjoy the tipster talk and the Tote lady (usually Carol) comes in and explains everything to the friends.

Debbie said that a lot of the friends who attend the race meeting have never visited the racecourse before.  A larger number of the friends are female and they grew up in a different era when racing was a more male dominated sport so probably their husbands would go but they didn’t.  They go and have a good day out and enjoy themselves, but it is something they probably wouldn’t have thought about doing themselves.

Racing also fills a gap for the male friends.  It’s an event that men want to come to or often people will come as couples and it is also an event that they talk about and encourage their friends and family to attend which helps to spread the word of WiSE.

“Often Michelle (Wetherby’s General Manager) will invite some friends to judge the best turned out horse and a couple of times the one we have chosen has won!

“The friends feel really proud to do that and it really gives them a better understanding of the sport.  Personally I have learnt so much about it since I started attending and I can help explain what is going on to the others.”

Not only does this partnership help raise the awareness of WiSE and the services they offer, but it opens up racing to people who haven’t previously considered it for a day out.

“Lots of people have returned and some have taken grandchildren to the family days.  It’s also opened their eyes to the other courses in Yorkshire.” Said Debbie.

The charity element is also really important.  Debbie has managed to encourage 10 participants to take part in the Mascot race, which will be held on Sunday, April 26  2026.  The mascots will be raising funds for WiSE, so that Debbie can continue her extensive events programme, but the mascot race itself is a big fundraiser for Sue Ryder.

The friends have previously returned to Wetherby on a non-raceday to plant up raised flower beds.

Like the plants, the continuous nurturing of this relationship is growing and benefitting both the racecourse and the local people of Wetherby.

On a similar theme, Racing Welfare are also involved in the community raceday.

Beck Edmunds, from Racing Welfare’s Community Department explained how positively a day at the races impacts their beneficiaries and how their relationship with the racecourse has developed.

In attendance will be 60 retired beneficiaries from the Malton and Middleham regions and surrounding area, who have all worked in the racing or stud side of the industry, travelling by bus.

In conjunction with Wetherby, they will all be receiving free entry, their own private space with plenty of seating and refreshments, plus retired jockey Tony Dobbin will be joining them to run through the card.

Beck stressed the importance of an event like this to bring people together, allowing them to connect and prevent the feelings of loneliness and isolation.

“We hold monthly coffee mornings in Malton and Middleham and it will be a similar group of people that attend Wetherby”, said Beck.

“The beneficiaries are always keen to go somewhere different.  The racecourses in Yorkshire are very supportive of our work but we have largely gone to flat meetings and they are really looking forward to attending Wetherby and go jump racing for a change.

“Many of them have a history with the racecourse, some have ridden here and while visiting a racecourse the memories come flooding back and conversation flows.”

Given the demographic of the retirees, many of them no longer drive and tend to live rurally where access to public transport is limited to say the least.  Racing Welfare can overcome all of these obstacles by providing the transport and organising the outing, so all the beneficiaries have to do is turn up.

I asked her if she saw a difference in the attendees between the coffee mornings and a raceday,

“Absolutely!  When they get together, they wind back the clock and become their giggly selves, revert back to their times working together in the yards and the banter that they used to share.”

Beck was keen to stress that their relationship with Wetherby and the other Yorkshire courses extends further than the Community Day.

“We’ve had rounders matches at Wetherby, which is a great way of giving the workforces a break from their day job and getting together.  Doncaster also hold quarterly coffee mornings which are for everyone.”

Wetherby is also responsible for the award-winning Bowel Cancer Screening Programme racedays, which have been rolled out across Yorkshire.

An initial approach to Michelle from Lydia, from the Bowel Cancer Screening team, was forwarded to Go Racing In Yorkshire as Michelle knew the organisation was looking for something that all the racecourse could unite behind and this seemed to fit the bill.

Starting in 2023, there has been a monthly presence from a bowel cancer screening team across the nine racecourses in Yorkshire.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer and prevalent in the older population, with free screening kits sent to anyone between the ages of 50 and 74 – a demographic commonly found at mid-week race meetings.

The Bowel Cancer Screening team will be in attendance at Wetherby on Wednesday, November 26 and will be happy to answer any questions racegoers may have about the disease or the kits.

Lydia said,

“We have been able to gain exposure and publicity to the demographic of Bowel Cancer Screening that we so desperately need, in order to improve cancer outcomes amongst our screening centres population.”

The Bowel Cancer Screening Programme racedays have since been rolled out across the country.

RacingTV members are another organisation that will be enjoying a day at Wetherby on Wednesday, as they host their Club Day.

Any RacingTV subscriber becomes a member and there are over 100 club days for them to attend each year.

60 will be attending Wetherby, where they can bring a guest, will have a private space and the RacingTV presenters on the day will entertain them with a tipster talk.

Charlotte George, from RacingTV said,

“We get people coming from all over the UK, who often use the club days as an opportunity to visit a racecourse they haven’t been to before.

“They tend to be at the retiree stage and will often travel and stay over at least one night.  It is wonderful to see people meeting up, making friends and talking about racing.

“The club days have a real community feel to them.”

At the opposite end of the age range, Racing To School will be visiting with a local Wetherby primary school.

The children will have the chance to learn about the sport while filling in their own workbook which focuses on numeracy and literacy using interactive and outdoor learning.

Don’t be surprised to see a group of youngsters walking the course and measuring up the fences before the first race!

Wetherby clearly relishes community engagement and the positive impact that they can make on the local area.  Times this by Yorkshire’s nine racecourses who all recognise the importance of community engagement and that’s pretty powerful stuff.