Throughout the coronavirus outbreak the care and exercise of horses remains essential.
To help meet the industry’s staffing needs throughout the ongoing crisis, the careersinracing.com job board, which is operated by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) will continue to provide an essential service for employers and those looking for work in the racing industry.
On Monday 23rd March, the UK Government introduced restrictions on work and social life, requiring people to stay at home as far as possible to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. However, reflecting the critical nature of work in animal husbandry, staff who are essential to the care of horses working in yards or studs are advised that they should continue to travel to work during the period of these restrictions.
Moreover, groundstaff working at racecourses may still travel to work to perform core outdoor duties on racecourses or at other facilities, provided requirements around social distancing and gatherings of no more than two people are followed. The racing industry published guidance for yards, racecourses and studs during the lockdown period.
All employers looking for staff and members of the industry’s workforce looking for new employment are encouraged to utilise the job board as the industry’s main hub for staff recruitment and employment opportunities.
The job board, which is a free service, can be used to advertise either long-term vacancies or emergency cover, and in doing so can help to ensure that staff can be found to care for racehorses, and those looking for work at short notice can find employment opportunities. A wide range of roles are currently being advertised on the board.
The team will be collaborating with all stakeholders to keep open lines of communication on jobs between employers and employees at this time.
Will Lambe, Executive Director for the BHA, said: “Our sport’s people, and its horses, are at the forefront of our minds. They are the priority for the group of industry leaders tasked with assessing the implications of the cancellation of racing, the crisis overall, and our sport’s resumption as soon as is possible.
“As ever, it is important that activity is co-ordinated, and careersinracing is long-established and respected as British racing’s centralised recruitment hub. The careersinracing job board is free for all employers across the sport, and exists to make the process of finding staff, and finding work, as straightforward as possible.
“We know that there is still a lot of uncertainty for everyone in British Racing, and would emphasise again that Racing Welfare are set up to provide assistance.”
Dawn Goodfellow, Chief Executive of Racing Welfare, commented: “The job board is a hugely valuable resource for the racing industry and we are proud to be working in partnership with careersinracing to promote it via the Careers Advice and Training Service (CATS) website. CATS compliments the information available through careersinracing by providing a centralised location for a comprehensive array of self-help online advice and guidance. I would encourage anyone who is in need of assistance in light of the current situation to get in touch with our team at Racing Welfare and to make use of all of the support we have available.”
The careersinracing.com team that administer the job board are on hand for any help or guidance in its use and can be contacted through [email protected] or 020 7152 0020.
There is also significant support available for anyone who falls into hardship within the Racing industry, and Racing Welfare, the charity that supports the whole of racing’s workforce, has a 24/7 Support Line or online chat staffed by experienced call handlers and is open to anyone needing assistance.
Call: 0800 6300 443
Live chat: http://racingwelfare.co.uk
Karen can usually be found glued to her computer or at the stables. Having edited several national magazines she co-founded Eclipse Magazine in 2008 after realising that many of her friends were nervous about going racing due to lack of information – what to wear, how to bet etc.
She absolutely loves her job (how many people can say that?!) and is truly grateful to all supporters of and contributors to Eclipse Magazine.
If you are reading this she would like to say THANK YOU! (And please spread the word about Eclipse…!!)
