Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.
Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):
- Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
- Accounts Manager, Nicola,
- Admin manager, Carol,
- Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
- Chief Operating Officer, Richard who is writing today’s blog,
Prince of Wales Hospice welcomes New Beginnings racehorses
The Prince of Wales Hospice in Pontefract welcomed some very special guests the other morning when two former Racehorses visited staff and patients.
Nearly Caught and Goldream, known affectionately as Nico and Remy, were equine stars when they were in training but have their retirement home with New Beginnings. New Beginnings horses, based just outside York, are a charity who provide a safe and secure environment for former racehorses, where they can adjust and be re-trained for their second career following racing.
The two ex-racers are familiar faces on the Yorkshire Racecourses with Goldream the equine ambassador at York, while Nearly Caught is the Pontefract counterpart. At the beginning of the year, Pontefract Racecourse launched their ‘Twelve Months of Giving’ for New Beginnings Horses. The campaign sees a variety of fundraising activity for New Beginnings taking place in every month in 2024 with the visit to the Prince of Wales Hospice forming part of the campaign in July.
Following the visit to the Prince of Wales Hospice, Richard Hammill, Chief Operating Officer for Pontefract Racecourse, said:
‘We are delighted to be working with both the Prince of Wales Hospice and New Beginnings Horses. While we’ve been working New Beginnings for a number of years, we are delighted to have increased our activity with the Hospice and hope to continue supporting them for many years to come. It was wonderful to be able to take the horses to the Hospice and witness first hand the incredible effect that they had on staff and patients alike.’
Pam and Kevin Atkinson of New Beginnings said:
‘We have been taking the horses to meet the racegoers at Pontefract for over 10 years and we really enjoy working with the whole team there. It was an honour to be able to take them to see a new audience at the Prince of Wales Hospice and for the patients there to be to interact with our wonderful horses. We see daily the powerful impact racehorses have on people lives and we are delighted to be partnering with Pontefract Racecourse and the Prince of Wales Hospice on this initiative so more people can experience and learn what horses do for people, and people for horses.’
Jo Dunford, the Wellbeing Lead at the Hospice, said: “We were delighted to welcome Nico and Remy to the Hospice. It was truly heartwarming to witness our patients’ faces light up as they fed polos and carrots to the beautiful horses, and it was a reminder of the huge impact animal therapy can have on well-being and emotional health. We are very grateful to New Beginnings for their visit, and we hope to see them again so that more special memories can be created.”
For more information on the Prince of Wales Hospice, or to donate to help them continue to provide specialist care please visit https://www.pwh.org.uk/
For more information on New Beginnings Horses, or to donate to help them to enable these visits, please visit https://nbhorses.org.uk/
For more information on Pontefract Racecourse and the Twelve Months of Giving, please visit www.pontefract-races.co.uk
