As Chairman, I now present our annual report on the activities of the charity, including the financial statements and auditors’ report for the period ended 31 March 2006. This Report is required to set out in detail our work and achievements over the year in question. We feel that we have achieved much in this 12 month period and we hope that you will enjoy reading the comprehensive survey which follows. It is of necessity lengthy, but we have a lot to tell you!
Charitable objectives
The Injured Jockeys’ Fund (IJF) was first established in 1964. It is now a charitable company limited by guarantee.* Our prime purpose is to provide help, financial and otherwise, to those jockeys who are injured, unable to ride and in need. These beneficiaries, their families and dependants receive pastoral care from the IJF almoners as well as financial assistance. Over the last 42 years we have helped well over 1,000 injured jockeys and their families. Currently we have more than 800 living beneficiaries on our books, of which over 315 are in receipt of regular grants and nearly 500 receive advice and support from our team of almoners. With the number of race meetings continuing to increase each year, so do the number of beneficiaries who need our support.
In contrast to commercial insurance policies there is no time limit of any kind on help which may be given by the IJF. Many of our beneficiaries suffered their injuries before insurance was available; some before the IJF was even established! Once a jockey comes within the terms of our trust, that jockey and his or her dependants are beneficiaries of the IJF for life.
* On the 26th November 2004 we incorporated a new company (number 5298320) called the Injured Jockeys Fund. This was registered with the Charity Commission on the 21 December 2004 (registered number 1107395) and on the 5th April 2005 this took over the activities, assets and liabilities of the (former) Injured Jockeys Fund (registered no. 262891), which had been governed by a Deed of Trust.
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Our work is all about helping injured jockeys, so I shall start right there –
Care of Injured Jockeys
The majority of our cases involve help to many jockeys whose names would not always be recalled by the average racegoer. Indeed, over a quarter are more stable staff than jockey, who, having ‘retired’ from race riding after short careers, often through injury, have nevertheless stayed in racing.
While most of our continuing beneficiaries are those whose injuries have forced them to give up riding altogether, there are many jockeys who need our help to recover from injury both with financial support and the payment of medical expenses, so that they can get back riding. As a current jockey once said – “I’m back on a high when I start riding out”. Of an injured jockey, Lee Mottershead memorably wrote in The Racing Post –
“He has been stitched, screwed, pinned and plastered.
Daft very possibly, bionic almost certainly, but brave most definitely, he has spent more hours in hospital than a junior doctor and done enough to merit his own episode of Casualty.
His most recent setback followed injuries that have numbered four broken legs, six broken collarbones, two broken noses, smashed ribs and breaks to a cheekbone, sternum, eye socket and shoulder blade.”
Here is another example of the sort of health difficulties an injured jockey so often has to endure. It is an extract from one of our Almoner’s Reports to the Trustees -
“He appears to have sustained many injuries whilst riding including fractured leg, cracked ankle, multiple bouts of concussion (19) as well as being involved in a large pile up at Bechers in the 1959 National (won by Oxo) resulting in a 10 day stay in Walton Hospital. He still suffers with back and ankle problems resulting in a feeling akin to pins and needles in his feet as well as back pain. He has seen his GP and consultants in this regard and finally had a scan on the 23rd November. He had an x-ray of his lumbar spine on 28th April which shows severe degenerative disc disease throughout the lumbar spine and severe osteoarthritis.”
This jockey, in fact, suffered his injuries over 40 years ago; yet the nature of these injuries demonstrate clearly just how much extra medical care such a jockey will continue to need as the effects of his injuries are exacerbated by old age.
It is fair to say that in cases like this the IJF makes a major impact on the individuals concerned through improving the quality of their lives. I quote these two cases simply to remind us all of the harsh realities of life for those who suffered injury in the course of giving us so much pleasure and excitement.
I now turn to our new Director of Care, Linda Power, who will cover, in greater detail, many of the different ways in which over the past year we have provided care for injured jockeys.
Injured jockeys present in many different forms and ages. They range between those who have, or are, suffering from serious physical or mental injury; progressive physical or mental deterioration; those in need of financial assistance, whether for treatment, for family, for housing or for transport; those who need assistance with further education; those who simply find the daily cost of living prohibitive for them and their families – and, sadly, some with addiction problems.
Our youngest beneficiary is 18 years and our oldest is 96 years. He rode in the 1929 Grand National!
Care of our injured jockeys and their families is provided through a national network of our nine almoners who work tirelessly to ensure that all needs of beneficiaries are considered and attended to on an individual basis.
In addition to supporting the general welfare of injured jockeys and their families, we have in the past year not only continued with our annual holiday to Tenerife but organised three new Holidays in the UK; we have extended the number of our beneficiary Race days; extended our property portfolio in Newmarket; taken on two more almoners; worked with Racing Welfare and other agencies in Newmarket in addressing the problems there of alcohol and substance misuse; we have continued to lobby the BHB on all matters relating to jockeys welfare, we have further developed our Visitor scheme……and much more.
Let us look at each in turn:
Ways in which we have helped injured jockeys:
General Welfare
In the past year we have assisted 38 new beneficiaries and continued to monitor and support the 418 already on our books. Here are two contrasting examples:
The first is a very special man, a former jump jockey and then trainer, Chris Kinane - or ‘Red’ as he is known to his friends. I am sure few need reminding of the horrific head injuries he sustained in the parade ring at Wolverhampton in April 2005. Chris was admitted to the QueenElizabethHospital in Birmingham under the care of Mr. Flint - to whom Chris is enormously indebted. He underwent innumerable procedures, scans and operations and following a period of rehabilitation at Moseley Hall, Chris was finally discharged home on the 27th March 2006 nearly a year after his accident – and of course to the delight of his family, friends and supporters.
From the beginning we were on hand to support Chris’s wife Tessa and daughters, Shelly and Claire. Our local Almoner, Kate O’Neill, conscious of the shock to the family, initially assisted in relieving all financial concerns and burdens through representations to the IJF trustees. The IJF provided finance to cover the monthly mortgage payments, provided further support for the girls with their education and a grant to cover living costs. Kate was on hand weekly to accompany Tessa and the girls to the hospital or to take them out to lunch to give them a short break from the intensity of the worry and concern.
Since Chris has been discharged we are supporting the costs of night carers to allow Tessa time to get a good night sleep. We have funded extra specialised equipment e.g. a stair lift, reclining chair etc.
Chris is a well known, much respected member of the racing community and his popularity is evidenced by the amount of support given to the Chris Kinane Trust Fund. We have throughout kept in close touch with its trustees and worked with them on help for Chris. One thing is for sure, the racing industry does not forget its own and between the IJF and the Trust, Chris and his family will be looked after for as long as they need our help.
Chris wrote recently, ‘Although I have been in hospital for a year you have been a great help to my family. You have improved my life by providing financial support and just by being at the end of the phone’.
The second example is a young conditional jockey, let’s call him Tom, who lost his wife to breast cancer leaving him with four young girls. Tom was determined to look after his girls and with the help of his family he is doing a terrific job. He gets up at 6.30am every day to do the housework, washing and ironing. He then works 30 hours a week. That way he can be there for his children. Both his wife’s mother and grandmother died of breast cancer at the age of 39. This history is obviously a concern for Tom.
We are not able to give him any substantial regular grant without it affecting his state benefits (the limit is £20 per week). However, we were able to provide them with a one-off cash grants to pay for Tom and his girls to travel abroad for a family holiday last summer. We were able to give him a Christmas grant which helped him meet the list the girls sent Father Christmas! One of Tom’s girls is keen on riding and we have paid for riding lessons.
The ways in which we offer assistance is varied and decided on a case by case basis. Whilst for some we are a lifeline, for others we offer a better quality of life.
Holidays
For fourteen years the IJF has taken a party of injured jockeys to Tenerife. This holiday would not be possible had it not been for the generosity of Robert and Elizabeth Hitchins. About seventy injured jockeys, their carers and/or partners are accompanied by almoners and one or two trustees on this ten day break. As always, a special time was had by all.
This year we also arranged, for the first time, a number of UK holidays. We organised three different venues taking a total of 78 beneficiaries, their families and carers to Centre Parcs, Sherwood Forest; South DownsHolidayVillage and a guest house – Buckle Yeat in the Lake District.
Throughout these holidays, as with Tenerife, beneficiaries constantly spoke of meeting old friends and making new ones, having fun and laughter, reminiscing, relaxing and of course, ‘We rode a few winners - mostly between 10 and 11pm’!!
Our beneficiary Race days have also been very popular. This year, we held two, one at Doncaster, and one at Wincanton, which was attended by our Patron, HRH The Princess Royal - much to the delight of our beneficiaries.
Holidays and Race days are hugely beneficial to beneficiaries and a big success. The trustees have provided a budget for the coming year to cover more holidays and more Race days. Many who go to these have not been on a racecourse for years. This all reminds them that they are not forgotten and the affect on their morale is so evident.
Education
In addition to our sponsorship of JETS, we have this year supported three beneficiaries in third level education. Andrew Donaldson has obtained his Masters degree in Social Work having previously got a Batchelor of Economics and Social Studies in Social Policy and a diploma in Social Work. Richard Forristal is currently in his second year of a three year English and Philosophy honours degree course having achieved a 2:1 in year one. Cheryl Nosworthy is currently completing her Masters degree and has been accepted to do a PhD on riding for the disabled.
Housing
Housing is difficult to access in all parts of the country but for our Newmarket beneficiaries it has been particularly difficult. Consequently, the Fund, in partnership with Orbit Housing, has purchased the nomination rights to four new two bed-roomed houses and two new flats in Newmarket (to add to our existing six flats), all of which are now occupied by our beneficiaries.
Drugs & Alcohol
Sadly, this year there have been a number of deaths within the racing industry which have been associated with drug and alcohol abuse. The IJF, Racing Welfare, the Astley Club and other support services in Newmarket are meeting regularly to work out ways of providing support for stable staff and to find solutions to the problems. As a start, the IJF has agreed to part-fund the appointment (for one year) of a Co-ordinator to look at the problems facing all stable and racing staff, evaluate the role of local services and charities and put forward a paper of constructive and achievable objectives for the future support and care of members of our industry.
New almoners
As the number of beneficiaries continues to rise and cases become more complicated, particularly in relation to securing benefits and access to timely and appropriate health care, we have appointed a further two almoners on a part-time basis. These appointments cover in the South East and the far South West. This re-organisation has allowed us to allocate two full-time almoners to Newmarket.
Visitors
The Visitor scheme has been gathering momentum over the past two years. Last September we held the first Visitors Annual General Meeting. The purpose of the scheme is to provide beneficiaries who may be lonely with a locally-based responsible companion who has a background in racing. The Visitor will visit the beneficiary in their own home; take them out to lunch or a race meeting, cinema or garden centre. Visits are undertaken at least once a quarter and sometimes more often depending on the needs of the beneficiary and the availability of the Visitor. This role is undertaken on a voluntary basis (although the IJF pay expenses). Currently we have 85 beneficiaries being visited by 36 Visitors. It is our intention to further this service throughout the coming year.
To each and every one of our volunteer visitors, we give our grateful thanks for their time and commitment. They are taking the sting out of the loneliness that many of our older and infirm injured jockeys – and in many cases their widows – suffer.
Review of grants
We now review all our grants annually. This has been a time consuming exercise for the almoners and office staff as detailed income and expenditure figures have to be collected and reviewed for each beneficiary. The review has not been helped by constant changes in the benefits system and increases in utility and council tax charges. However, one recent change in the benefits system has helped because we are now no longer limited to a grant of £20 per week for those aged over 60. As we go to press, work on finalising our recommendations (to the Board) is nearly complete.
Have we made a difference?
I hope that anyone who has read this far will realise the responsibilities we carry and how we endeavour to meet them. Recently we sent out a questionnaire to a large cross-section of our beneficiaries. Here are some extracts. I believe the IJF and all our supporters can be greatly re-assured by what they say:
‘If you did not pay my medical insurance I would not be able to afford it. I have on-going treatment on my eyes due to diabetes and Glaucoma and can now get treatment quickly, when necessary. Thank-you’.
‘Without a shadow of a doubt the IJF has had a major impact on my and my family’s lives since I was contacted in 1991. Without the house I live in and the car I drive, which enables me to visit my elderly uncle on a daily basis, there is hardly a corner of my life that the IJF hasn’t touched. Without the help of the IJF I dread to think what would have happened to my family and me.’
‘Financially, you have taken the pressure away. Emotionally, I have had the support of someone to fight my corner with me’.
‘You have improved our lives beyond all expectations especially what you are doing for my wife to get over her illness so that we may have a happy future together’.
‘It’s lovely just to know you care. You have done so much for me and I am eternally grateful’.
‘You have kept us independent and in touch with a holiday to break the routine and meet others’.
‘Without all the help from the IJF I would not have been able to remain in my home and for that I shall be eternally grateful’.
And we could go on…….
So what has been achieved in real terms in the past year:
Grants to existing beneficiaries have increased by 6.37%.