Wincanton Racecourse’s General Manager, Jack Parkinson, has praised the local community for its “fantastic response” to a charity event organised by the track which has helped raise £1,250 for the Wincanton Community Hospital.
Entrants to a raffle paid £50 per ticket to be in with a chance of having one of six races run in their name at the Somerset track’s fixture on Thursday 2nd December.
All proceeds from the event will go towards the £10,000 total that the hospital, which has served as the town’s main vaccination centre during the COVID-19 pandemic, is trying to raise to fund five new syringe drivers.
Parkinson said: “As a racecourse committee we understand the impact of the pandemic and especially on the fundraising efforts of charities.
“Wincanton Community Hospital has been central in the fight against COVID-19 in the local community by being the main vaccination centre. It was a logical choice when looking for the local charity after all we’ve been through over the last 12 months.
“We pitched it hoping that we would get 10 entries to raise £500 but there has been a fantastic response from everyone and the hospital is extremely grateful to those who have donated generously.”
Alan Judge, treasurer of The Friends Of Wincanton Community Hospital, added: “It’s been a tough year with the inability to run our usual fundraising events, so contributions such as these are a huge help to the hospital.”
Following the success of the raffle, Parkinson is planning to help support the hospital again in the future.
He added: “We are going to invite the hospital down to help do the presentations on the day and thank them personally for the important role they continue to play in our community.
“It is the first time we have done anything like this but one of things I was keen to do when I came here was to try and get the racecourse involved with a local charity.
“We’re looking forward to continuing to work with the hospital in future and will think about what we can do on an annual basis for them.”
