Racing Foundation gave more than £3 million in grants to charitable causes in 2023

The Racing Foundation made grant payments totalling £3.3 million to fund charitable activities in the racing industry last year, according to its latest annual review.

The body also provided a £7.5m loan to the Levy Board as a contribution towards the weighing room modernisation loan scheme being offered to racecourses.

The Racing Foundation was established in 2012 to oversee the distribution of funds to charitable causes within the racing and thoroughbred industry following the sale of the Tote, since when it has awarded more than £39m in grants. 

Last year the charity continued support of the Horse Welfare Board and the delivery of the industry’s A Life Well Lived equine welfare strategy, as well as working with the Levy Board to help the formation of the Industry People Board and the development of an industry people strategy.

Racing people and horse welfare are two of the four main areas of focus the Racing Foundation has identified, along with the environment and youth and community engagement, as the charity examines its strategy.

As part of its strategy refresh, the Racing Foundation said it had "identified a need to build racing’s social licence and will concentrate our attention on achieving this". It also said its role was to be "an enabler and funder of others who are leading change within the industry rather than a leader attempting to drive change".

Racing Foundation chief executive Tansy Challis

The charity's chief executive Tansy Challis said: “When reviewing our progress through our last strategy we assessed our performance against our key areas of focus and the outcomes achieved through our giving. Many of those outcomes were directly linked to the development of cross-industry strategies and while most of these are taking longer than originally anticipated to be developed, we have noticed a desire among industry stakeholders to work in a more collaborative and strategic manner and an appetite to drive change.

"We see this as hugely positive and feel it is crucial for the future of the sport that this approach is further strengthened over the course of 2024."

Challis said the one-year strategy for 2024 would represent a "slight refresh" of the previous three years and that it would use a full review of the period to formulate plans for 2025-2027.

She added: "By the end of 2024, we will have a better overview of the development, implementation and performance of industry strategies in our key areas of focus and will be better able to measure the outcomes and impact of our giving."

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