Racing Welfare grants to help those in need of immediate assistance

PA Sport Reporters
April 2, 2020 1:15 pm

Help to be streamlined and processed as quickly as possible.

Racing Welfare has announced a streamlined application process for the provision of Covid-19 hardship grants for anyone working in the British horse racing and breeding industry.

The grants are designed to help those who are in need of immediate financial assistance due to the coronavirus outbreak. The measure has been taken by the charity in response to the situation, adapting the way in which it delivers its services to best meet the needs of all of racing’s people at this time.

The grants have been calculated into fortnightly amounts for a single applicant (GBP 150) and that of a family (GBP 210). The payments are intended to cover immediate basic needs, such as food, electricity and heating.

The hardship grants will be financed by an industry fund established by The Racing Foundation, the John Pearce Foundation and other racing charities, utilising Racing Welfare’s infrastructure and grant making expertise to distribute the funds.

Dawn Goodfellow, chief executive of Racing Welfare, said: “The provision of hardship grants has been developed in response to the Covid-19 outbreak to help those most in need of support quickly.

“We recognise that the situation is affecting the lives of people living and working in racing in many different ways, with immediate financial need being just one of these.

“We are focusing our response on three main strands of work including the provision of hardship grants, the remaining two of which are: the publication of reliable advice and guidance in relation to the outbreak and its impact, and community support services to prevent loneliness and isolation during this time.

“The crisis is generating a lot of complex needs and so our services are designed to support people who require support on multiple fronts.

“We have streamlined our application procedure to allow for grants to be processed as quickly as possible. We have also altered our verification process to facilitate this being done remotely yet still securely, all of which is set up to get support to those who need it most as rapidly as we can.”