Walking the Courses
792. Richard Farquhar
Richard Farquhar, from London, is the founder of ‘Walking the Courses’ and has raised £490,000 by walking the length of every one of the 60 racecourses in Britain.
Motivated by his father’s love of horseracing and battle with pancreatic cancer, Richard set out to raise money for two charities close to his heart: ‘Racing Welfare,’ a charity which provides support for the workforce of British horseracing, and ‘Pancreatic Cancer UK.’ Richard walked 2,910 miles during his journey and inspired the creation of a charity single to raise money for the initiative. He has inspired more than 1,000 people to donate to his fundraising campaign and has received endorsements from leading figures from across horseracing including presenter Clare Balding and jockey Jason Maguire.
In a personal letter to Richard, Prime Minister Theresa May said:
Through ‘Walking the Courses’ you have created a deeply personal and innovative fundraising method for the two causes that you care about the most. Walking the length of Britain’s sixty racecourses is a truly unique achievement and I wish you all the best on your continued efforts to support ‘Pancreatic Cancer UK’ and ‘Racing Welfare’.
Richard said:
“I am very honoured to be a recipient of the Points of Light award. I spent almost eighteen months of my life on ‘Walking the Courses.’ It was the most fulfilling, rewarding time of my life. And to have raised the best part of £500,000 for two terrific charities, ‘Racing Welfare’ and ‘Pancreatic Cancer UK’, made it all the more worthwhile.”