Charlotte Hawkins chooses HEROS Charity to benefit from the sale of iconic British jewellers Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Centenary commission.

In celebration of the centenary of the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, the iconic British jewellers Boodles commissioned a Gold Cup 100 pendant, with the sale proceeds of the beautiful piece of jewellery going to charity.

The ever-popular Good Morning Britian presenter Charlotte Hawkins was tasked with the decision of which two charities should benefit from the sale of the Gold Cup 100 Pendant and she chose HEROS Charity as one of the lucky charities to benefit.   

HEROS Charity, based in Oxfordshire, is British Horse Racing’s Aftercare Lead, working in partnership with RoR on aftercare provisions for former racehorses. Since HEROS started in 2006, it has retrained and rehomed 100’s of former racehorses, working hard to find the most suitable new life for each individual thoroughbred that comes through the HEROS retraining programme.

In 2015, HEROS diversified and started HEROS Education and now welcomes up to 65 students between 11 and 16 a week with Special Educational Needs (SEN). They also run a post 16 Diploma courses for SEN students with EHCPs, with a view to finding them relevant equine jobs at the end of it. HEROS uses former racehorses as a catalyst to spark inspiration into SEN students. The synergy in educating both horses and students is a unique model, that works brilliantly well for both.

Charlotte Hawkins commented; ‘I first came across HEROS when I attended one of their Golf Days some years ago. As a racing fan and a lover of horses, I was delighted to hear about the work HEROS does to ensure former racehorses have an excellent and fulfilling life when they finish racing. HEROS Education is a fantastic alternative source of education for SEN students and it’s truly wonderful to see how both the horses and students thrive together, creating optimistic futures for both.’

Michael Wainwright, CEO of Boodles; ‘Boodles are absolutely delighted to be donating the proceeds of the sale of the Cheltenham Gold Cup 100 Necklace from the Lucky range to HEROS. We were introduced to the charity by Charlotte Hawkins, and we were immediately taken with the marvellous work they do for retired racehorses and for introducing the world of horses to Special Educational Needs students who may not otherwise have the opportunity to ride.’

Grace Muir, CEO and founder of HEROS commented: ‘We are extremely honoured and grateful to Charlotte for choosing HEROS to benefit from the sale of this stunning piece of jewellery. We would also like to hugely thank the Wainwright family from Boodles for their generosity in commissioning the Gold Cup 100 Pendant and giving the proceeds to charity. A donation like this helps HEROS to continue our mission of giving former racehorses a new and fulfilling life after racing and to help us create bright futures, for those that wouldn’t necessarily have them in mainstream education. It is especially special to me, that HEROS was involved in the Cheltenham Gold Cup centenary celebrations, as my father bred and sold 1969 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner What A Myth, who was born and raised at HEROS base, North Farm Stud.’

Our valued supporters

We could not continue our valuable work without the support of our many friends and donors, including corporate sponsors. Without their support many HEROS Charity fundraising events would not be possible; we are grateful to our sponsors for the opportunity their support provides in enabling us to take our fundraising activities to a wider audience.