Staged at the home of the world-famous Randox Grand National, the City Of Sporting Excellence event saw Aintree Racecourse join forces with Premier League giants Liverpool FC and Everton FC to offer over 250 Year 8 students from local schools, including students on our Onside and Premier League Inspires programme, the chance to learn about the power of sport in building community cohesion and aspiration.

Those in attendance were treated to a wide range of activities including football skills coaching and team building. They were also given the opportunity to learn about the anatomy of a racehorse with leading veterinary expert Professor Chris Proudman and to learn about the long history of the Randox Grand National with historian Jane Clarke and former jockey Bob Champion, who famously recorded a fairy tale victory on Aldaniti in the 1981 running of the world’s great Jump race.

Grand National-winning jockey Daryl Jacob, successful on Neptune Collonges in 2012, and retired former leading Jump jockey Aidan Coleman were on hand in the weighing room to talk to the children about the sport of horseracing and there was the chance for budding jockeys to test out their skills on an equiciser.

With the Randox Grand National Festival rapidly approaching, there was also the chance to see the process which goes into making the famous Grand National fences, with Simon Barker and Kelly O’Boyle from Aintree’s ground staff team giving a talk by the famous Chair obstacle in front of the stands.

Matt Parish, CEO of LFC Foundation, said: “As a charity working in the heart of Liverpool, we want to help showcase Liverpool as the best sporting city in the UK who also gives back and provides aspirational moments for young people.

“We were therefore delighted to join The Jockey Club and Everton in the Community at Aintree Racecourse as students from our Premier League Inspires and Onside schools programmes had the fantastic opportunity to collaborate with a major sporting institution to provide an educational and inspirational experience.

“We worked with 145,000 participants last season to help tackle social inequality home and away. We do this by championing health, learning and employability through over 40 programmes and opportunities like this help inspire the next generation to go on and do great things with their lives.”

Dickon White, The Jockey Club’s North West Regional Director who runs Aintree Racecourse, said: “Liverpool is a city with a sporting heritage like no other and, with just over a month to go until the 2026 Randox Grand National Festival, it was fantastic to come together with Liverpool FC and Everton FC to showcase all that is positive about professional sport.

“The Randox Grand National is widely regarded as ‘The People’s Race’ and hopefully we were able to demonstrate to those young people in attendance that racing truly offers something for all – whether as a future fan of the sport or as a potential participant in the industry.”

Find out more about the Onside programme here.