Newbury’s Community Raceday will be a diverse and cultural experience
A broad range of first-time racegoers will be pouring into Newbury Racecourse next week.
A diverse programme of cultural activities and entertainment will be debuting at the ground on August 29.
Pairing with West Berkshire-based community cohesion group Community United, the racecourse will be putting on a “raceday with a difference”.
With the help of Castle School, the organisations have offered complimentary invitations for over 550 people from the local area – the majority being children and young people.
A broad range of communities will be represented in the festivities courtesy of performers from Zimbabwe, India, Cameroon and Afghanistan.
Entertainment will include dance, music and poetry and will take place ahead of the day’s first race.
Community United director Alice Kunjappy-Clifton said: “Community United, with the support of the diverse communities which it serves, are extremely excited for this month’s Community Raceday.
“We’d like to thank Newbury Racecourse for their support and we look forward to introducing horse racing to a new audience for the very first time.
“Our work is centred on making a positive difference in the community and the upcoming Community Raceday is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the different cultures in the local community.”
The pupils and others in attendance will be able to make use of state-of-the-art multi-sensory equipment and resources, installed for the Community Raceday courtesy of sensory experiences provider Rhino UK.
They will also get to go behind the scenes at the racecourse with free-to-access tours courtesy of former National Hunt jockey, David Crosse.
Racecourse CEO Julian Thick said he was “delighted” with the plans.
“It is incredibly important for us to ensure we are giving all those in the local community the opportunity to enjoy racing here at Newbury,” he said.
“We are striving to work closely and collaboratively with community groups to achieve this and we are very much looking forward to welcoming a large number of first-time racegoers from diverse community groups on Tuesday 29th August.’’