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‘Racing Home’ goes live: a brand-new online platform for educating and empowering racings employers, employees and self-employed

Women in Racing, with support from the Racing Foundation, Kindred Group and their flagship brand Unibet, are delighted to announce the launch of the ‘Racing Home’ portal, www.racinghome.org.uk

The organisations have come together to launch racing’s first motherhood/parenthood portal as part of their ongoing project to educate and empower all stakeholders within the horseracing industry. Working parents, in particular women and those thinking about starting a family, can face significant challenges within horseracing. Employers, employees and those who are self-employed will have easy access to information about rights and entitlements regarding pregnancy, maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental leave, flexible working, self-employment and statutory pay.

Users of the portal will also find an ‘Advice and Support’ section which demonstrates examples of good working practices and provides advice both employers and employees can take into consideration. This includes information around supporting carers, flexible and family-friendly working, remote and agile working, mental health and wellbeing and returning to work amongst other topics.

Also launching as part of the project is a ‘Pilot Programme’ which will deliver guidance for mothers returning to riding work post pregnancy. Working with ‘Specialist Rehabilitation Physios’, participants will be offered free physical, psychological and emotional support in Newmarket, Middleham and Malton as part of the pilot, with the objective to run this programme nationally within the year.

Additionally, the ‘Racing Home’ project is debuting a series of insightful podcasts hosted by equine vet and podcast producer Naomi Mellor. Hosted on Spotify and Apple Music, Naomi will be talking to trainers, jockeys, experts, and a host of the sport’s decision makers about their stories and experiences and how together we can shape a positive future for all families in horseracing.

Women in Racing Chair, Tallulah Lewis said: “Women in Racing are incredible proud to be launching the Racing Home Project with three key initiatives which aim to have immediate impact on the lives of all working parents. The work we have been undertaking has identified some serious challenges faced by mothers and parents working in the horseracing industry and two years of research and webinars have led to Women in Racing in tandem with Simply Racing and the industry stakeholders developing meaningful solutions that will positively impact the working lives of many, enhancing, wellbeing, resilience and quality of life. Our gratitude to Racing Foundation and Kindred Group for their foresight in sponsoring the Racing Home Project and all the women who contributed to its findings. We believe that these initiatives will bring significant positive change to many people’s lives.

Rob Hezel, Racing Foundation Chief Executive said: “The Racing Foundation is adamant that parenthood, in any of its forms, should not be a barrier to a career in the racing industry, nor should it mean derailing an existing career. Supporting current and prospective parents is crucial to improve retention of the industry’s workforce and it is so necessary given the struggles faced in recruiting and retaining staff. We expect the Racing Home platform will assist in making the racing industry more attractive, transparent and a long-term career option for staff now and in the future.”

Ed Nicholson, Head of Kindred Racing Communications and Sponsorship said: “We live in transient times, and both the racing and betting industries face many important challenges ahead. One common challenge is how we keep and develop our existing employees. Given that over 50% of the industries workforce is female it is both sensible and imperative that we all understand the issues that influence employment decisions for prospective parents and for those women thinking about returning to the industry having given birth or raised a family. Therefore, Kindred is proud to support this second phase of the Racing Home project, which helps to offer advice and guidance to educate and empower all stakeholders within the industry about motherhood/parenthood. At Kindred, we strongly believe a diverse workforce enhances our performance and we focus on improving our diversity across the Group. We know that Women in Racing are instrumental to raising the awareness of diversity in the racing industry and we are pleased to be able to support the delivery of concrete actions to enhance the wellbeing of the industry”

To learn more: www.racinghome.org.uk

Women in Racing

in partnership with

The Racing Foundation & Kindred Group

‘RACING HOME’ PROJECT AWARDED KEY FUNDING

Women in Racing are delighted to announce that they have been awarded £140,000 by the Racing Foundation and Kindred Group to implement the next stage of the ‘Racing Home’ project.

Women in Racing are announcing today that they have received support from both the Racing Foundation and Kindred Group for the ‘Racing Home’ project. The extension of funding will enable Women in Racing to work with the stakeholders at implementing a whole raft of measures to ensure that Horseracing can become a cultural leader in the sports world at supporting its participants in planning and raising a family. This measure is vital both for wellbeing and for the overall sustainability of the industry.

The ’Racing Home’ project began with a symposium in November 2019 and was followed up by a series of successful workshops and webinars leading to a research-based project led by Dr. Kate Clayton-Hathway of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice, Oxford Brookes University. The discussions with participants from all aspects of horseracing were used as a basis to collate data around the experiences of motherhood and parenting and expanded to include the views of a wide range of stakeholders. Participants were asked to suggest any solutions they felt would contribute to mitigating both practical barriers for working mothers as well as less tangible ones within our sport. These findings were collated and developed into a series of recommended ‘next steps’ for the industry in discussion with key stakeholders. The findings formed the report ‘Racing Home, Working Mothers in the Horseracing Industry’ which was published late last year.

This vital funding will enable Women in Racing, supported by Simply Racing, to implement the practical and educational recommendations from the report. This includes essential work developing and digitising a transparent ‘Racing Home’ portal (website) allowing online industry access to racing-specific and general material around motherhood. This Portal will be a place whereby employers and employees and the self-employed can turn for questions/answers about anything motherhood/parenthood related.

Educational ‘coffee mornings/community days’ and events at racecourses are also planned with the objective of encouraging open talk about pregnancy, maternity and family life whilst providing a network structure for parents. Pregnant mothers will be supported in their journey back onto a horse. Racing’s new intake and younger generations of all genders will also be instructed in new ways of thinking about parenthood that will help shift mindsets creating a more open and modern working environment for all.

The project also seeks to ensure that people have an understanding of their rights and are embraced inclusively by racing’s employers who will see the benefit of investing in the working practices and quality of life of working parents. By highlighting good working practices around motherhood and leading the way in this area, Women in Racing will help make racing more accessible and thereby demonstrate that we want people from outside our sport to join the racing family.

Women in Racing Chair, Tallulah Lewis said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded funding from the Racing Foundation and Kindred Group who have support the ‘Racing Home’ project since its inception. We are very grateful for the continued recognition by these two organisations and their support in us delivering a more sustainable and welcoming racing industry for working mothers and parents. We are ready to get stuck in and work with the industry stakeholders to deliver these actions and look forward to sharing the results with you.”

Rob Hezel, Racing Foundation Chief Executive said: “Racing is enormously reliant on its people as well as its horses and retaining dedicated staff is vital for long-term prosperity. The Racing Home project has the potential to revolutionise how parents and mothers are supported to stay in the industry and can enable racing to become a leader in this field across the sporting landscape.”

Ed Nicholson, Head of Kindred Racing Communications and Sponsorship said: “We are delighted to be able to support the important work Women in Racing are doing to benefit women in the horseracing industry. At Kindred, we strongly believe that a diverse workforce enhance our performance, and we focus on improving our diversity across the group. We know that Women in Racing are instrumental to raising the awareness of diversity in the racing industry and we are pleased to be able to support the delivery of concrete actions to enhance the wellbeing of the industry.”

Dr Kate Clayton-Hathway, Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University said: “Family life and caring are at the heart of employee well-being, and the research report recommendations we are helping to implement will share good practice that benefits and supports both employees and employers. We are excited to be joining Women in Racing, Simply Racing and the horseracing industry on this next stage in their journey.”

For more information and registration visit www.womeninracing.co.uk