Chester Racecourse Collection

Last Saturday in Chester, HIP was given the opportunity to raise money at the last day of this year's races. A team of HIP volunteers came to lend a hand collecting money to support the growing HIP family.

Saturday the 30th of September marked the end of the annual occurrence of the races in Chester. On this day, HIP had been given the chance to collect money at the races. Despite the weather being rather inclement, many people were present at the races and seemed to be enjoying the last thrills of the horseracing season. A group of around a dozen HIP volunteers gathered at the entrance to the racecourse to be briefed on the protocols to be followed with collecting money at the races. After this, they were allocated their gates, where they would be spreading the word about our wonderful charity and raising money to support it. A couple of volunteers donning charity buckets and HIP t-shirts were stationed at each gate and awaited the flurry of racecourse attendees to promote HIP's good work. With the HIP volunteers being stationed at their gates around 5pm, this allowed an hour before the crowds started to properly leave the grounds. Following the last two races and an hour of fairly persistent rain, the crowds started flowing towards the gates. Throughout the next hour our volunteers were able to chat to the race-goers and share the word about our charity as people left the races. With more and more people hearing about the great work that HIP does, and how a few pennies can make a huge difference in supporting the HIP community, the HIP team were gratefully greeted with many donations. Once the crowds had died down, the HIP team decided to call it a day but with being able to class it as a success judging by the generosity of the general public, and the knowledge that many more individuals had been made aware of HIP as a charity and support base.

The total amount raised came to to an incredible £2,774.25! We couldn't be more thankful for the kindness shown by the race-goers and the executive team at Chester racecourse for allowing HIP to collect money at the races. Not to be forgotten is also the hard work of the team collecting the money to help further support HIP. All in all, a bright future seems to be on the books for HIP!

By Margaret Allan.