Sir Peter O’Sullevan raises money for the Brooke
The Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust has donated £50,000 to equine welfare charity the Brooke.
Since become patron of the Brooke in 1999, Sir Peter has been actively involved with the charity, visiting its work overseas and raising money through his own charitable trust.
The latest donation brings the total raised for the Brooke over the past 18 years by the Trust to more than £600,000.
Sir Peter who celebrated his 97th birthday earlier this week (3 March) is also giving the royalties of the new version of his autobiography “Calling The Horses” to animal welfare charities, including the Brooke.
“Having retired in my 80th year I took the opportunity to set up the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust,” he writes in the book.
“I had in mind a sextet of beneficiaries, two of which (the Brooke Hospital for Animals and World Horse Welfare) I have supported throughout my long working life.”
The Brooke now works in 11 different countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
Petra Ingram, chief executive for the Brooke said: “We are so grateful to have Sir Peter as our patron. His passion for horses shines through in all that he does, and we’d also like to thank the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust, which has been very generous to us over the years.”
For more information visit: www.thebrooke.org
Newmarket Heath ride raises record amount
Organisers have announced that last year’s Macmillan Newmarket Heath Ride raised a record £30,000 through entries and sponsorship.
The ride was held on 31 August 2014 by kind permission of The Jockey Club.
It is the one day in the year that Newmarket Heath is open to any horse and rider, rather than exclusively racehorses.
The ride starts at the July racecourse, winds its way around part of the Town Plate course on the National Stud, before heading across the grass gallops to the town centre taking in Warren Hill, the Limekilns and the Al Bahathri all-weather gallop.
“We would like to thank all the volunteers who help us on the day and all the riders who took part,” said organiser Charlotte Collins.
This year’s ride is on 6 September, for more information visit: www.newmarketride.org.uk
Auction raises funds for cancer charities
The Welsh Pony and Cob Society has donated the proceeds from the 2014 president’s auction to the British Heart Foundation Cymru and Cancer Research UK.
Edwin Prosser, WPCS president from 2013-2014, nominated the charities to share the funds raised.
The auction held after at the dinner dance in Cardiff last April raised £4,100.
“It was a privilege to accept the fantastic donation of £2,050 from the WPCS. My thanks to all who worked hard and contributed to raise money to such a worthy cause,” said Neris Lloyd, chairman of the Abereraron fundraising branch of Cancer Research UK.
Past president Mr Prosser said he had chosen the two charities due to the number of people, including himself and family members, whose lives have been affected by heart disease or cancer.
He presented the monies on 25 February at the WPCS headquarters in Bronaeron, West Wales.
Founded in 1901 the WPCS is the largest of Britain’s native breed societies.
For more information visit: www.wpcs.uk.com
Entries open for Burghley sponsored ride
Entries are now open for the SEIB Burghley sponsored ride on 6 September.
The 12km ride, run for the 14th time this year, has raised more than £180,000 for charity since it started
Riders explore the tracks and paths on the Burghley estate.
Numbers for the non-jumping ride vary from 300-500 each year.
A minimum donation of £33 per rider must be sent in with the application form. All of the money raised goes to charity.
Entries close on 28 August and there are no entries on the day.
For more details visit: www.icommentate.co.uk/burghley
Charity walk around Britain’s racecourses
Richard Farquhar sets off on 20 March on his 2,800-mile walk around the racecourses of mainland Britain — a feat never before attempted.
The 52-year-old father of four hopes to raise £1.4m to be shared between Racing Welfare and Pancreatic Cancer UK.
He begins his journey at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile racecourse and his first stop will be Towcester racecourse on 23 March.
Over the next 13 months he will be connecting all 60 racecourses across Britain from Newton Abbot in the south to Perth in the north, from Yarmouth in the east to Ffos Las in the west.
Richard is coinciding his arrival at each racecourse with a fixture, and after the racing he will walk a leg of the track itself accompanied by trainers, jockeys and others supporters.
The Walking The Courses finishes at the Craven Meeting in Newmarket in April 2016, a meeting that Richard attended for 26 years with his father, Peter to whom the walk is dedicated.
Richard’s father died in 2012 from pancreatic cancer, and the trainers John Hills and Dessie Hughes and bloodstock agent John Woodman were lost to the same disease last year.
“The funds raised by this remarkable challenge will allow us to offer support to even more of the individuals who work tirelessly on behalf of the racing industry,” said Joey Newton, chairman of Racing Welfare.
To donate go to: www.virginmoneygiving.com/walkingthecourses
For more information visit: www.walkingthecourses.com
