Kaiser Chiefs to help paint Doncaster purple as Weston Park race day returns

Doncaster Racecourse will turn purple in June 2022 with the high-profile return of the Ant Marketing Weston Park Cancer Charity race evening.

And our annual race meeting will be back with a bang – with Yorkshire indie rock band the Kaiser Chiefs set to provide the post-race entertainment.

The event will see the continuation of a partnership which spans five years. In that time, it has raised more than £150,000 for Weston Park Cancer Charity to support vital cancer research, provide essential support services and enhance treatment experiences for people going through cancer.

The Ant Marketing Weston Park Cancer Charity Race Day will return in 2022 after two years of postponements due to Covid-19, with the presence of a capacity crowd expected to help raise thousands of pounds to support people facing cancer.

Racegoers will also be encouraged to wear purple to raise awareness of our work across the South Yorkshire, North Derbyshire and North Nottinghamshire regions.

Darren Hayes, our Business Development Manager, said: “Make no mistake, our charity has missed events like this during the Covid-19 pandemic, so we’re over the moon to see it return in 2022.

“The awareness it will generate, as well as fundraising through extremely generous donations, will make a huge difference to people going through cancer and cancer treatment in our region.”

Almost 2,000 cancer cases are diagnosed each year in the Doncaster region (covering South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw CCG), with patients from Doncaster account for approximately 25% of patients at Weston Park Cancer Centre in Sheffield.

“The Ant Marketing Weston Park Race Day is always a huge event on our calendar,” said Darren.

“Without events like this, we have unfortunately seen a drop in income of around 50 per cent during the pandemic – at a time when people facing cancer need us most.

“We’re already excited for the event and we can’t wait to welcome tens of thousands of racegoers through the turnstiles once more. For one in two people, a cancer diagnosis will change everything – but with the support of people and organisations across the region, so can we.”

Rachel Harwood, Executive Director at Doncaster Racecourse, said: “We’re so proud to see the return of the Ant Marketing Weston Park Race Day in 2022 – the event’s cancellation has left a huge hole in our calendar in the last two years.

“We’re also very excited to have such a high-profile line-up of entertainment following the conclusion of racing. We know racegoers will be very excited to see the Kaiser Chiefs perform live and without doubt this will make a huge impact on the funds and awareness we manage to raise.

“To have raised more than £150,000 (and counting) to support cancer research, treatment and care since our first race day in 2016 is a huge achievement, and we couldn’t have done it without the incredible generosity of the people in this region.”

Tickets for the Ant Marketing Weston Park Cancer Charity Race Day will be on sale in January 2022. Sign up to our e-newsletter to receive more information about our annual race evening at Doncaster.