It has been a long time since I updated people on what was happening at Chequered Flag Motorsport. COVID 19 has played havoc with all businesses and individuals and we have been no different.

I am fortunate to be helped out by an enthusiastic group of volunteers, Abbie, Jenny and Arron all of who make a great contribution to the work that we are doing.

Like all events based organisation we were hit hard by the lockdown and were unable to deliver our events and therefore raise funds for the charities we support. However, far from sitting back, we worked on many new plans and iniatives.

During lockdown I was introduced to an incredibly motivated amputee. Despite the problems he has faced, and continues to face, he looks for opportunity and to help and motivate other amputees. As such he has set up a series of boot camps specifically for amputees and is now working hard to provide a support base for child amputees and their families. He has been inspirational in a new project that we are busy working on behind the scenes and hopefully over the next month or so we can tell you more.

Making the most of my time during lockdown I built many new relationships and developed existing ones. To that end our relationship with SimTrack Driver Performance Centre goes from strength to strength and the support they provide is simply amazing and our gratitude goes out to Adam and James for their continued support. In the coming months we will be organising an event that will provide an insight into the world of professional motorsport and give one lucky participant the opportunity to experience one to one professional racing driver coaching in a professional simulator. Watch this space !!

My exposure to the world of amputees made me revisit exactly what we were trying to achieve and who we were trying to help as Chequered Flag Motorsport. I realised that there are large parts of the community that are denied involvement in motorsport, either as a fan or as a participant, as a result of an illness or some form of disability, mental or physical. Having spoken with many of this community I found that all they wanted is to be offered the same opportunities as others and wre incredibly frustrated at being regarded as different.

It is frequently said that during lockdown we have made significant progress in our social awareness so I decided that I wanted, through Chequered Flag Motorsport to do something about it. So we are now working on a number of initiatives that we are very excited about that encompass all levels of motorsport. There will be a chance for anyone to get involved.

I can’t say too much at this time about our most significant initiative but it is large, significant and all the team are working very hard to make it happen.

So in summary, it has been an extremely busy lockdown that has seen us change direction slightly although we will still be supporting our charities. Now things are easing we have a number of events booked in from the summer onwards including a race series for PACES, one of our principal charities, that will see us partnering with SimTrack Driver Performance Centre and McLaren Leeds. We have lots of exciting news to come in the next few months.

I will try post something on a monthly basis now things are up and running again.