The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) have announced a group of its members including Paddy Power, Kindred, Ladbrokes, Bet365 and Betvictor have raised a total of £250, 000 to be gifted to various charities.
Charities To Benefit
The Britannia Stakes race which ran last Thursday 18th June, saw profits raised donated to various charities including Marie Curie UK, Prostate Cancer, The Care Workers Charity and The Berkshire Community Foundation Coronavirus Fund.Khaloosy second favourite won the race and favourite Finest Sound came in second. Bookmakers did make a loss but came together to make the joint charities donation.BGC chief executive Michael Duger said, “ It was a great day for punters, though not such a good one for the bookies. However, it’s brilliant to see that despite bookmakers not making a profit in the race, they will still make a large donation of £250,000 to four fantastic charities, who undoubtedly deserve every penny.”Racecourse Chief Operator, Alastair Warwick said, “ This initiative was tremendous gesture by the betting industry and reflects the ongoing contribution being made throughout the pandemic. The beneficiary charities will be most appreciative of this valuable funding.”
Industry Operators Generosity
Ascot marks the second of generous charitable contributions by betting operators. In April The Grand National was cancelled due to the pandemic, so officials decided to run the race virtually. Again, several BGC members pledged combined profits of £2.6m to the National Health Service (NHS).Also in April, Denise Coates, co-founder of bet365 donated a £10m grant to regional NHS charities from the Denise Coates Foundation in a fight to help staff and patients dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.