On 12th December students from 10 local schools attended the final of the #AscotRacecourseSupports Community Challenge at #Ascot Racecourse. This new initiative delivered by Learning to Work was created and supported by Ascot Racecourse and Berkshire Community Foundation.
Built on the success of Ascot Supports, the ARSCC was shaped to engage students in volunteering and giving back to their community. After receiving a seed fund of £50 students were tasked with selecting a team of 6 to represent them, researching and linking themselves with a local charity and then developing a programme built on the concept of making a difference to the lives of others.
Students from Charters School, Langley Grammar School, Altwood School, Windsor Girls’ School, Herscel Grammar, Oakbank School, Garth Hill College, Kings Academy Easthampstead Park, Chruchmead School and Eden Girls’ School attended Ascot Racecourse to present to a panel of Judges as to why they should be awarded the Ascot Racecourse Supports Community Challenge champions for 2024. The presentations were amazing and the sheer passion the students felt for the charities they had chosen was clear to see and blew the judges away.
While the judges met to deliberate and select the winner students had the pleasure of hearing from Felicity Barnard, Deputy CEO & Commercial Director Ascot Racecourse who shared with them her personal journey and how hard work, determination and never giving up all play a huge part to achieving success, her advice was to take and embrace every opportunity!
The competition was tough as all teams gave a fantastic presentation and reasons why they should be announced the 2024 winners. After a very hard decision the judges awarded 1st place to Garth Hill College for their work with BIBS, 2nd place to Eden Girls’ School for their link with SHOC (Slough Homeless Our Concern) and 3rd place to Herschel Grammar for their link with Thames Valley Adventure Playground. All finalists were highly commended for embracing the challenge and supporting such worthy causes.
In addition to the funds raised by schools the 3 winning teams were also given a much-needed boost to their funds with a donation from Ascot Supports, and students, to thank them for their hard work and commitment to the programmes were invited to attend the Family Race Day on the 30th March to further celebrate their success and say thank you.
So far, the figure raised amounts to over £8,139, and still this figure is rising! The efforts of all concerned have been fantastic and made a significant difference to the lives of others.
