Ap Mccoy Becomes Wellchild Ambassador Ahead Of Cheltenham Festival
20-time Champion Jockey Sir AP McCoy has become an ambassador for WellChild, the national charity for seriously ill children which recently partnered with the Jockey Club for The Festival supporting WellChild and the WellChild Cheltenham Gold Cup.
McCoy has already supported the Cheltenham-based charity’s work over the years having attended several WellChild fundraising golf days hosted by WellChild Ambassador, Ed Chamberlin – who will present this year’s Festival, fronting ITV Racing’s coverage. He joins Chamberlin as an ambassador for the charity, championing its work for seriously ill children and their families across the UK.
One of McCoy’s first engagements for the charity will be to judge the winners of a Festival-themed children’s drawing competition, which will see artwork from youngsters across the country on show at Cheltenham Racecourse and online in celebration of the Festival’s partnership with WellChild this year.
Millions of people in the UK will watch The Festival supporting WellChild between Tuesday 16th and Friday 19th March, broadcast on ITV’s main channel and via its digital platforms. Based on Government restrictions for professional sport, currently the event’s 28 races would be staged over four days without any spectators present at the racecourse.
“We are thrilled that Sir AP McCoy has agreed to expand his already great support for WellChild by becoming an ambassador for the charity, and what better time to do it than at a time when we are partners for the Jockey Club in one of the greatest events in racing, The Festival and the Cheltenham Gold Cup?” said Colin Dyer, CEO, WellChild.
“We thank AP for his help raising the profile of the charity’s work among the racing community alongside Ed Chamberlin and our other fantastic supporters from the world of racing.”
AP McCoy added: “I’ve seen the good work the charity has undertaken over the past few years and I’m looking forward to being more involved. It’s been a difficult year for the charity, the children and the families it supports so I’m hoping to do what I can to support them with their important work.”
WellChild, which counts The Duke of Sussex as its Patron, provides a national network of children’s nurses, who work with families to ensure that children with complex care needs can leave hospital and return home.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the charity set up a crisis response service to source and distribute PPE to shielding families so that they could let external carers back into their home. It has now distributed more than 270,000 items of PPE to vulnerable families across the country since the crisis began.
