FORDS NEWS

Newsletter - 21st December 2011

Dear Promoters and Friends,

A very warm welcome to our third quarterly-ish Newsletter keeping you up to date with progress on your Ben Fund. It’s a case of mixed fortunes this time, which in fairness probably reflects the position of racing as a whole and even beyond.

We’d like to begin by offering our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of David Weare, tragically taken from our community on 25th September. Also to Incarace, to the staff, drivers and spectators on the day, to the drivers involved, and to friends and strangers alike affected by David’s accident. I think it’s fair to say this means everyone involved in short oval racing in some way.

Fundraising update
As expected, fundraising has now quietened down for the winter, with no further meetings booked at this time. The planned collection at Smeatharpe on 2nd October was cancelled, FORDS standing aside to let Autospeed focus on helping David Weare’s family. Another event organised with Spedeworth was also cancelled for the same reason.

We regret the cancellation of the scheduled collection at Barford due to circumstances beyond our control.
Nevertheless, a healthy income during September brings the total income including Promoters‟ starting donations to a little over £14,000 to date.

Special mentions must go to Blandy‟s Built Bangers for the raffled Buxton Bomber raising nearly £500; to the Stoxkarts Big Booze raffle raising £337; Ballymena Raceway, for sending a donation of £300 as they hadn’t organised a fundraiser this year; and with our apologies to Lochgelly who, at the last minute, ran their fundraiser themselves and generated £600 over a two-day meeting. Our heartfelt thanks to you all and to everyone who has helped or donated in any way, however large or small.

Help with fundraising Initiatives like those mentioned above are vital to FORDS, not only for essential funds but also to keep on spreading the word and get everyone involved. We need help at collections at all tracks - next year’s fixtures will be finalised early in the New Year, please contact us if you can help with an event at a track near you, or if you have an idea ...
Which leads us on nicely to Nicola Neale, who decided to organise a Ladies‟ Stoxkarts Race in aid of FORDS. With support from us and Ian Higgins, Nicci aims to raise £1000 from this event (date to be confirmed by Incarace) with amateur ladies needing a minimum of £60 sponsorship to take part. Interest in this event was immediate, with the minimum required 10 names received within 24 hours! Trophies will be sponsored by Dippy Northern Bangers and ... well, we’ve got to keep some surprises back!

Claims To date we have received 19 claims (7 of these still ongoing) and paid out a total of £8665, of which £915 was under the Hardship Fund. We’re aware that far from all injured drivers have claimed from us so we’re expecting this number to increase sharply next year. We also need to be able to give much more help to those who need it most and we simply haven’t been able to give as much as some of these drivers need.

Public Information
We are delighted to see our logo and website address on this year’s ORCi licences and on some of the Promoters‟ websites, helping to keep FORDS in mind at all times. As reported in the last newsletter, over the winter months we will be making some changes to our website and making sure all formulae and all websites and publications know all about us, so public awareness is our ongoing mission. The next newsletter around February time will include a more detailed financial report following our accounting year end on 31st December, as well as some comments on what we’ve learned about fundraising and claims - don’t miss it!

Chequered Flag Chaplaincy Proudly presenting our own Rev Adrian Smith, in his own words:
I have been offering Chaplaincy support at my local track, Skegness Stadium, since the beginning of the 2011 season. I was introduced to oval motorsport by my Dad, who took me to Long Eaton as a child, and I see my offer of Chaplaincy as my way of putting something back into the sport. I have really enjoyed meeting and getting to know people during the season, and highlights have included the 2L Saloon Stock Car World Championship at Skegness and the F2 World Final at King‟s Lynn.
In my Chaplaincy support I aim to serve everyone, ranging from promoters and track staff to drivers and their teams and families and the fans on the terraces. I can offer a friendly and confidential, listening ear and try to support one and all both on and off the track. Although based primarily at Skegness, you may see me at one or two other tracks, and so please come and say hello or feel free to contact me on 0777 358 1065 or at aksmith96@btopenworld.com.
With my best wishes to you all, Revd Adrian Smith

Secretary’s comment: From the top of the fair-sized hill we have successfully climbed in our first season, now the mountains ahead are clearly in our sights. From a strong and positive start, we now need to double and treble our income to meet the increasing claims and offer enough to make a real difference to those hardest hit by a period off work. It is truly amazing to watch this project unfold, as people come forward to offer ideas and support. Best of all is when I hear, “Without FORDS, it would have been a real struggle” - but together we can and will make FORDS so much more!

Thank you for your time reading this newsletter and for your support of FORDS.

Wishing all our supporters a happy Christmas and a Happy New Year

PRESS RELEASE - 30th NOVEMBER 2011
 
We the Trustees of FORDS Care (Fund for Oval Racing Drivers and Staff) came from all four corners of the country to hold our first AGM on Monday, to review our first season and look to the future.
We are nearing the end of our first season, which has been a steep learning curve. This project is a much bigger undertaking than we could have anticipated and as such needs further financial support and volunteers in the short term.

The ORCi have pledged their financial support for the Fund, although the exact method has not yet been fully determined. We will also be looking beyond Promoters for sponsorship and support from both inside and outside of racing.

Being very recently established, we have already given financial support to 15 drivers from various formulae totalling £7115 with a further 3 claims awaited. We expect the number of claims to rise quickly as the Fund expands.

The Trustees are fully committed to FORDS and look forward enthusiastically to 2012 and beyond. The FORDS team would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support to date and we look forward to working with everyone in 2012!

The Trustees of FORDS - Dave Pierce, Nick Hughes, Des Chandler, Jon Worstencroft, Bob Jones - 30th November 2011