Successful charity partnership fuelled by major fundraising initiatives

The organisers of The Classic are proud to announce that this summer’s record-breaking festival helped to raise both significant awareness and much-needed funds for its official charity partner: Alzheimer’s Research UK.
 
A number of fund-raising initiatives combined to generate £29,000 for the UK’s leading dementia research charity, helping to fund groundbreaking dementia research. 
 
In the build-up to the recent three-day extravaganza at Silverstone (30 July – 1 August), many generously made an online donation when buying their event tickets and Alzheimer’s Research UK had a major presence on the Village Green throughout the event with a busy central display. 
 
Here, fund-raising activities included race simulators and a special competition to bag prizes which included a Scalextric set, a football shirt signed by Champions League winners, Chelsea (courtesy of Yokohama) and much more. 
 
For a chance of winning, visitors had to guess the number of orange balls filling the cockpit of a Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team show car in exchange for a donation. A further prize draw raffle was organised in hospitality, too.
 
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team also kindly donated three charity lots to the Silverstone Auctions on-event sale. Alzheimer’s Research UK is the team’s Official Charity Partner for 2021. Racing gloves used and signed by drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, plus a hand-signed technical drawing, collectively sold for an outstanding £9,200, all of which went directly to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
 
Friday evening’s INEOS Grenadiers Fun Ride was another major contributor. It offered cyclists a wonderful chance to bike around the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit with INEOS making a generous donation on behalf of all those who registered to take part. In addition, a number of individual riders also made further contributions to the charity via their own fund-raising actions.
 
“We are proud to have played a part in helping to raise such a significant sum for Alzheimer’s Research UK and would like to thank our event partners for their proactive support of such a worthy cause,” said Nick Wigley, CEO of The Classic’s promoter Goose Live Events. 
 
“Like so many others, charities have really suffered with their fund-raising as result of the global pandemic – that’s why we are all the more delighted that The Classic has made such a major contribution to a cause that’s especially close to the hearts and minds of all those attending what’s a thought-provoking event focused on reviving great memories from motor sport history.”
 
As well as generating much-needed funding, Alzheimer’s Research UK also maximised its presence at the world’s biggest classic motor racing festival to raise awareness of the impact healthy living has on reducing the dementia risk through its Pitstop Pledges. 
 
Lucy Squance, Director of Supporter Led Fundraising at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “After a pause on face-to-face events, we would like to say an enormous thank you to The Classic and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team for the overwhelming support given to Alzheimer’s Research UK at The Classic at Silverstone this year. We loved being part of this iconic event and the tremendous efforts made from our supporters helped us to get back on track and regain momentum for dementia research. Thanks to the generosity of The Classic’s festival-goers, we were able to double the amount of funds we hoped to raise, helping power research to change the lives of those affected by dementia.”
 
First announced in 2019, The Classic’s three-year partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK has now been extended to include next summer’s festival after the enforced cancellation of the event in 2020 due to COVID restrictions.
 
In 2022, The Classic will be staged over the August Bank Holiday weekend 26-28 August with tickets on sale now.