A 15 year old Olympic hopeful and babies at the Neonatal Baby Unit at the Nottingham City Hospital are to benefit from a share of £4,225 following a successful fundraising event organised by The Frank Key Group.
Charity Race Night
Taking place since 2010, Frank Key’s Annual Charity Race Night has always focused on supporting good causes and this year saw over 400 people pack the Springwater Cantonese Restaurant in Calverton in late February to place their bets and raise as much money as possible.
Now in its 110th year in business, starting in Nottinghamshire in 1907, Frank Key organises the event for its customers, friends and colleagues to share the excitement of a night at the races, whilst also raising vital funds for worthy beneficiaries. People from 125 businesses large and small from across Nottingham, the East Midlands and Yorkshire attended the event and placed their bets on 10 pre-recorded televised horse races with all profits from the bets, and sponsorship of the horses, being donated to the two deserving causes.
Supporting Nottinghamshire Good Causes
The money raised will be divided between the Neonatal Unit at the Nottingham City Hospital and Team GB BMX rising star Elissa Bradford. The 15 year-old from Nuthall, who will receive £1,225 from the Race Night, was ranked number one in the UK in 2016 and has her sights set on representing Team GB at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. In addition to the money raised at the Race Night, Frank Key will provide ongoing sponsorship support to Elissa as she prepares to take on the world’s best in the next Olympics.
Nottingham City Hospital’s Neonatal Baby Unit will receive £3,000. The donation will go towards providing the very latest neonatal equipment, and carrying out research to improve care for premature or sick newborn babies. Money raised at Frank Key’s Race Night will be combined with that generated at the forthcoming Ladies Charity Open Golf Day to be held in April at Mapperley Park Golf Club.
James Norton, Frank Key’s Group Managing Director comments: “The evening is always hugely popular and this year was no exception. In fact, we raised our highest total to date! Since we started the event seven years ago we have raised over £25,000 for charities and other good causes and I am delighted with the amount raised this year. The City Hospital’s Neonatal Unit delivers invaluable care for babies and I hope that the money will go someway to helping the staff continue their excellent work.
“Supporting the ambition of Nottingham and its young people is something very important to us as a company, and Elissa certainly has ambition! We are looking forward to assisting her with her journey to Tokyo and hope that she can fulfil her dream of bringing home a medal.”
Elissa Bradford comments: “To receive this money from Frank Key and its customers is fantastic and to have the company as an ongoing sponsor will be a huge benefit. It will help my family and I with the costs of going to training and race events and help me to invest in my equipment so that I can compete with the best riders in the world.”