Racing gives generously to underprivileged children

It proved to be a record-breaking afternoon for the organisers of the annual Tellytrack Christmas Tree event at Turffontein Racecourse last weekend with R500,000 raised for a number of worthy causes as the festive season approaches.

What makes the amount raised even more impressive is that it is up some R300,000 when compared to the proceeds from last year’s event.

The afternoon offered plenty of entertainment for some 200 underprivileged children with pony rides, face painting, magic shows and, of course, a visit from Father Christmas who made sure that the children all left with gifts and smiles on their faces.

“The Tellytrack Christmas Tree was a huge success and we managed to double our income thanks to a number of generous donations,” event organiser Julie Alexander said.

“What this means is that we can now offer 10 bursaries from the proceeds.

Over and above that, Phumelela has initiated an internship programme which will hopefully help some of these youngsters gain valuable work experience,” said Alexander.

“Who knows they might even show the right kind of potential and end up with permanent employment which would no doubt be a huge boost.”

The three beneficiaries will be St Laurence’s Children’s Haven, TLC Children’s Home and Abraham Kriel Childcare.

Part of the money was raised by offering shares in a two-year-old filly by Brave Tin Soldier, who will go into training with Gary Alexander.

The horse is a full sister to two-time winner Aventurine.

The bar has been set even higher with the 10th renewal of this event now done and dusted and what it now means is that there will be a drive to better the mark for the 2017 edition.

“We’re looking to grow the Tellytrack Christmas Tree even further and hopefully next year will be even bigger so that we can be in a position to help even more children,” concluded Alexander.