Racecourse Association Publishes 2022 Annual Report

RCAin Equestrian

The Racecourse Association's (RCA) 2022 Annual Report has today been published with the theme of encouraging new racegoers and participants to the sport to the fore.

  • RCA Annual Report focuses on collaboration and the drive for increasing racing's popularity
  • Wilf Walsh's first Annual Report as RCA Chair
  • Financial statements of RCA group included

The 2022 Annual Report includes keynote addresses from Chair Wilf Walsh and Chief Executive David Armstrong in addition to financial summaries, departmental updates and a long-read on the RCA's equality, diversity and inclusion work.

In his first Annual Report as Chair, Wilf Walsh has called on the sport to collaborate in its quest to attract new racegoers, using only 'fact-based, comprehensive market research and data' to do so. Collaboration is also a critical part of the proposed industry restructure, with Wilf commenting on the necessity to 'safeguarding both our short and long-term future as a modern, thriving and inclusive sport.'

David Armstrong uses his address to pay tribute to the RCA team and racecourses across Britain in supporting each other through perhaps the most difficult period of trading in memory. Looking ahead to future challenges, David highlights the forthcoming Gambling Act Review and the sport's response to date as an example of utilising a collective resource to strong effect. David also introduces a series of workstreams the RCA has developed with the view to welcoming additional racegoers, including representation on the Horse Welfare Board and a new racegoer app.

As one of the founding signatories to the sport's commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, the RCA has included a long-read report on the association's work in the past 12 months to address this responsibility. New projects, including Autism in Racing and pan-racecourse accessibility audits, are included as well as a look at the long-term future of this vital workstream.

The full RCA 2022 Annual Report can be downloaded here and is available on the RCA website

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