The sterling work of six Cumbrian charities will be highlighted at Carlisle Racecourse today. The Great Community Race Day will celebrate and raise awareness of some of the causes that have played a key role in the community during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is part of a racing fixture at the Durdar track which is sponsored by Carlisle-based firm OEE Container Technology. The event is the brainchild of Carlisle Racecourse non-executive committee member Bruce Jones and his wife Sue, who founded the engineering company in 2018.
Mr Jones said: “We all celebrate the Cumbrian people’s historical resolve in overcoming life’s challenges, from the previous floods to the current pandemic.
“Unfortunately, the situation over the past 18 months has been unprecedented and directly affected so many, understandably bringing everyone back to the old British ideal that charity begins at home.
“This has left many smaller local charities in a very difficult situation, working on very limited budgets with limited opportunity to recover and build support.”
Six races on today’s card will include the names of six different charities.
They are: autism charity BEE Unique, the Calvert Trust which arranges outdoor adventure holidays for disabled adults and children, the Carlisle Community Help – Affordable Food Hub, Diff-Ability which promotes positivity about disability, suicide preevntion charity Every Life Matters, and Penny Jones Animal Hospice.
Mr Jones added: “Through the Great Community Race Day, OEE hope to really raise awareness of these local charities and the fantastic work they do.
“The charities have continued to remain on the front-line of support through these challenging times. This is a reason to celebrate each charity’s continued hard work and spotlight their continued support of the community.
“We trust that raising awareness now will help these charities offer locals that little bit of extra support, possibly making all the difference through offering advice, direction or simply someone to talk to.
“It may help save a person’s life, offer families an opportunity to put food on the table, save a discarded animal or deliver additional support for those who most need it.
“OEE would like to thank the charities themselves for their efforts in pulling together the organisation and the team at Carlisle Racecourse for their help and support with all the arrangements and planning.”
All donations will be split equally and passed in full to the charities and can be made at https://gofund.me/6b870f12.
Tickets for today’s racing must be booked in advance. The first race is at 1pm.
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