On 29 January, students from Altwood School, Churchmead School, Herschel Grammar School, Theale Green School, Eden Girls’ School, Baylis Court Girls’ School and Garth Hill College attended the final of the Ascot Racecourse Supports Community Challenge at Ascot Racecourse. Now in its second year, the programme has gone from strength to strength.
Built on the success of Ascot Racecourse Supports, the Ascot Racecourse Community Challenge was designed to engage students in volunteering and giving back to their local communities. After receiving a seed fund of £50, each school selected a team of six students to represent them. The teams then researched and partnered with a local charity, developing and delivering a programme focused on making a real difference to the lives of others.
All teams were invited to Ascot Racecourse to present their journey to a panel of judges and explain why they should be crowned Ascot Racecourse Supports Community Challenge Champions 2025/26. The presentations were exceptional, with the students’ passion for their chosen charities shining through and leaving a strong impression on the judges.
While the judges deliberated, students had the opportunity to hear directly from the charities involved, including SHOC (Slough Homeless Our Concern), Baby Bank and Slough Cross Roads, Slough Refugee Centre, The Dash Charity, Duchenne UK, and Launchpad, gaining further insight into the impact of their work within the community.
Given the high standard of entries and the closeness of the judging, an additional award category was introduced this year: the High Sheriff’s Award. The Ascot Racecourse Supports Community Challenge Winner 2026 was Herschel Grammar School for their work with SHOC (Slough Homeless Our Concern), while the High Sheriff’s Award was presented to Churchmead School for their work with Slough Cross Roads. Both charities received £1,000 to support their continued efforts in making a positive difference within their communities.
All finalist teams were highly commended for embracing the challenge and supporting such worthy causes. In addition to words of encouragement and thanks from the judges, the Berkshire Community Foundation contributed further support by awarding an additional £250 to each of the other five charities represented in the challenge.
To date, more than £10,500 has been raised, with fundraising still ongoing. The efforts of all those involved have been outstanding and have already made a significant and lasting difference to the lives of others.
“The Ascot Racecourse Supports Community Challenge has gone from strength to strength, and the way the students have embraced the entire project has been fantastic. Every student was a credit to themselves, their team, and their school. Raising awareness, supporting charities, and fundraising sit at the very heart of this programme, and I know that everyone present felt incredibly proud of all the schools involved. Working in collaboration with Ascot Racecourse Supports to bring this interschool challenge to life has been a real pleasure. My sincere thanks go to our judges — Sean Taylor, High Sheriff of the Royal County of Berkshire; Gerry Lejeune, CEO of the Berkshire Community Challenge; and Jack Rankin MP for Windsor — who did a fantastic job not only in selecting our winners, but also in inspiring our young audience by sharing their own stories of how volunteering and giving back have shaped them as individuals and supported them in their current roles”. – Nancy Lalor, Operations Director, Learning to Work.
Judges:
Sean Taylor, High Sheriff of the Royal County of Berkshire
Gerry Lejeune, CEO of the Berkshire Community Challenge
Jack Rankin MP for Windsor
Judges awarded:
Winners Herschel Grammar - Supporting SHOC – £ raised plus a £1000 Ascot Supports donation
High Sheriffs Award Churchmead School - Supporting Crossroads - £941 raised plus a £1000 High Sheriffs Donation
Finalists:
Herschel Grammar – SHOC £1571.15 + £1000
Churchmead School – Cross Roads Slough £1,480 + £1000
Garth Hill College – Duchenne UK - £1,650 + £250
Altwood School – The Baby Bank - £1,900 + £250
Eden Girls’ School – Slough Refugee Support £485.68 + £250
Theale Green School – Launchpad £163.42 + £250
Baylis Court School – DASH - £250
Quotes received:
The Ascot Supports Community Challenge has been an outstanding initiative for our students at Herschel, and we are delighted to share our feedback with you.
The project had a hugely positive impact on those involved. Throughout the challenge, students went above and beyond, working collaboratively, problem-solving effectively, communicating with confidence, and carrying out a wide range of fundraising activities. It provided them with valuable opportunities to develop leadership, confidence, and real-world skills while making a meaningful contribution to a cause they genuinely cared about.
“The experience not only raised important funds for our chosen charity, SHOC, but also helped students gain a deeper understanding of the value of community involvement and social responsibility. We are extremely grateful to Ascot Racecourse, and everyone involved for creating such a rewarding and memorable experience for our students”. – Mr Ali Abdar, Herschel Grammar, Slough
“It was my pleasure to be involved with the Ascot Racecourse Supports Community Challenge as one of the judges. The theme for my year as High Sheriff is Education - within academia, the workplace and the community. This event touched on all three aspects. Students developed a greater understanding of the charity sector and its impact on the wider community, their campaigning to raise funds involved learning organisational, marketing and sales skills and their presentations to the judges would have enhanced everyone’s communications skills and built confidence in public speaking.
The fundraising ideas were great to learn about, and the presentations were all to a high standard, with great enthusiasm from all the teams.
Congratulations to all the participants on their excellent support for each of the charities”.
Sean Taylor, High Sheriff for the Royal County of Berkshire
“It was inspiring to see so many young people excited and engaged in supporting causes that matter to them locally. They are our volunteers of tomorrow, and this programme shows how giving and social responsibility can be embedded alongside invaluable real-world experience in teamwork and public speaking. After presentations to the winners and runners up, Berkshire Community Foundation (BCF) was pleased to offer £250 to each of the chosen charities of the remaining schools. BCF are delighted to partner with Ascot Racecourse to support Learning to Work’
Gerry LeJeune, CEO - Berkshire Community Foundation
We were absolutely delighted to be chosen by Theale Green School as their charity for this year’s event. The energy and enthusiasm the students brought was inspiring – they worked brilliantly as a team, showing real creativity in their fundraising ideas and a genuine commitment to making a difference for a local charity.
It was also wonderful to see students discovering what a charity is and how it works in practice – helping to build the next generation of fundraisers, marketers and compassionate community champions.
Although they didn’t win the main prize, we are incredibly grateful for the £250 contribution from BCF, which will help us continue supporting people in Reading who are at risk of becoming homelessness.
Initiatives like this truly demonstrate what can be achieved when schools, charities and the wider community come together. It was a privilege to be involved, and we’re so proud of what the students achieved.
Kristi Wilson, Head of Marketing and Fundraising - LaunchPad Reading
It was such a genuinely heart-warming experience. Seeing the kindness, effort and awareness shown by the students at Churchmead School was incredibly inspiring — they should be very proud of what they achieved.
We also loved seeing the range of charities involved and the different causes being supported. We were genuinely touched by the decision to award an equal donation, which meant a great deal to both the children and our charity.
We’re so grateful to the school, Ascot Supports, the High Sheriff Sean Taylor , Berkshire Community Foundation, Windsor MP Jack Rankin, and especially Rebecca Saich from Learning to Work for organising everything and bringing everyone together. It was something special to be part of, and one we won’t forget.
Trisha Young, CEO - Crossroads Care Slough
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