SEDGEFIELD Racecourse joined 15 racecourses to take part in the Give & Gain initiative on Friday 19 May.

Racing Together’s Give & Gain Day is a day of national employee volunteering across the Racing industry. It is now in the third year running that racecourses have joined forces to contribute to the day.

The Give & Gain concept, sponsored by Waitrose, is organised and managed by Business In The Community and highlights the importance of employee volunteering as a foundation stone of a responsible business strategy.

Sedgefield Racecourse staff have supported the day by volunteering at Rebecca Menzies stable yard. Joined by Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Sedgefield, Dehenna Davison, the team spent two hours mucking out and learning how much work and effort goes into getting horses ready to race.

Jill Williamson, Executive Director at Sedgefield Racecourse said “We’re thrilled to have supported the Give and Gain campaign this year with a visit to Rebecca Menzies Training Yard. Rebecca has recently moved to the area and Racecourse employees have taken time out of their busy schedule to volunteer to work alongside Rebecca and team at the yard. This has provided the team with first-hand experience of the hard work that goes into the training of race horses whilst supporting an amazing initiative”.

Dehenna Davison said “"It was great to join the team from Sedgefield Racecourse today for the Give and Gain Day to see and experience just a small amount of the behind the scenes work that goes into the racing industry. With the Government taking positive action on the racing levy, it's an exciting time for the industry and I look forward to working with Sedgefield Racecourse and Rebecca Menzies if I'm successful on June 8th."

Rebecca Menzies said “It was great to work alongside the racecourse and I would like to thank the staff for their support. Being able to provide an insight in to ensuring horses are ready to race was great and I’m sure the racecourse team will appreciate the level of work and effort required behind the scenes prior to raceday.