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Kindred will participate in the “Racing is Everyone’s Sport” campaign. The campaign is a collaboration between Great British Racing and Pride Network. It aims to make the LGBTQ+ community feel welcome in horse racing.
Kindred Supports “Racing is Everyone’s Sport Campaign Collab
Kindred Group has announced its participation in a new campaign for the sport of horseracing. The drive is a collaboration between the Pride Network and Great British Racing. The purpose of the event is to encourage and welcome members of the LGBTQ+ community who are interested in horse racing.
Kindred is proud to support the “Racing is Everyone’s Sport” campaign, which warmly welcomes the LGBTQ+ community into the exciting world of horse racing.
On Saturday, December 4, Unibet sponsored the Unibet Becher Chase Day. This is one of the largest, most well-known horse race meetings of the year. It took place at Aintree in Liverpool and helped raise awareness of the new campaign.
On the day, jockeys were encouraged to wear rainbow armbands. Additionally, race staff and spectators were given rainbow badges to wear throughout the event. The pride gear was provided to highlight the campaign and spark meaningful conversation during the event. Unibet also opted to include rainbow logotype lines on all ITV race saddlecloths.
This was particularly important because the saddlecloths were even featured during the most prestigious race of the day. The rainbow logos were highly visible during the titular Unibet Becher Chase race. These televised races are seen by enormous audiences. This means that such a meaningful display was noticed by thousands of people in the hopes of sparking conversation.
Kindred Group is Committed to Equality For All
Kindred Group has long been committed to ensuring that its brands include diverse teams across all regions and departments. Their support of the Racing is Everyone’s Sport campaign is a natural and unsurprising extension of this.
Ed Nicholson, Kindred’s Head of Racing Communications and Sponsorship, remarked on their campaign participation:
“At Kindred, we are committed to building a diverse team with an Inclusive and Equitable experience for all. So, naturally, we jumped at the chance of being able to support this important movement. As sponsors of one of the big meetings on Saturday, we’re particularly pleased to donate one of our four ITV televised races from Aintree to help highlight the profile of the campaign.”
In addition to donating a televised race to increase campaign visibility, Kindred went even further. Nicholson went on to outline the rest of Kindred’s sponsorship and support plan:
“All four of our Unibet televised sponsored races, including the Unibet Becher Chase itself, will feature branded Unibet saddlecloths, each embroidered with bespoke names of the horses that will carry them and embellished with the Rainbow Laces colors. We will have also donated 20 percent of our marketing assets on the day of the campaign.”
Such public and vocal support for diversity and inclusion is an excellent demonstration of Kindred’s commitment to supporting human rights. Britain has made great strides in progressive social issues.
“Racing is Everyone’s Sport” Campaign Brings Many Communities Together
Unibet sponsoring such an important campaign sets a stellar example for the online gaming community as a whole. It also shows just how much commercial support there is behind the LGBTQ+ inclusiveness movement.
David Letts, chairman of Racing With Pride and member of the Diversity in Steering Racing Group, commented:
“It is fantastic to see racing join the wider sporting community in celebrating Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces initiative. Racing Is Everyone’s Sport provides an opportunity for British horse racing to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion on a public stage and to reflect on the progress which has already been made in this area.”
Great British Racing’s Head of Marketing, Gregg Taylor, also made a statement to express his gratitude and excitement:
“We are delighted that British Racing is joining other sports to partner with Stonewall’s renowned Rainbow Laces campaign. It is excellent to have the likes of Unibet supporting the campaign and encouraging LGBTQ+ inclusion this year at Aintree Racecourse. We’d like to thank Unibet and all racecourses, participants and sponsors involved in backing Racing Is Everyone’s Sport.”
Taylor also noted that the aim of this huge collaborative effort is “to make everyone feel welcome within the sport, regardless of their gender or sexuality.”
Kindred has a long history of partnering with brands and campaigns to support LGBTQ+ causes. For example, during Pride month, they collaborated with Relax Gaming to offer the first LGBTQ+ avatars in the industry.