PHUMELELA MEDIA RELEASE
SUBJECT: Go racing with the stars and see charity win big!
DATE: Thursday 16 October
RELEASED BY: Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Limited
Go racing with the stars and see charity win big!
Charity will win big when famous faces and famous horses get together for horseracing and tote betting company Phumelela’s annual Charity Mile November Handicap at Turffontein Racecourse on Saturday 1 November 2008.
The R600 000 Charity Mile is a unique event that brings together famous people, top thoroughbreds and corporate sponsors for a fabulous raceday in aid of charity.
Celebrities coming to Charity Mile this year include South Africa’s “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius, a treble gold medal winner at the recent Beijing Paralympics, 2007 Rugby World Cup heroes Percy Montgomery and Jake White, former Miss South Africas Vanessa Carreira and Claudia Henkel, celebrity couple Danny K and Lee-Anne Liebenberg and Godfrey Khotso Mokoena, a silver medallist in the long jump at this year’s Beijing Olympics.
Autograph sessions will be held during the race meeting and racegoers will have the chance to meet their favourite celebs face to face.
The 16 horses in the Charity Mile race on behalf of their owners in the normal way. Each also competes on behalf of a charity and the finishing order determines how much money each charity takes home.
Phumelela is donating R550 000 to the 16 participating charities in this year’s Charity Mile. The winning horse will earn R100 000 for its charity with the amounts to be won by the other charities ranging from R70 000 for second to R20 000 for the charity of the last horse to finish. Should a runner be withdrawn, the relevant charity gets R20 000.
Some of the charities that will benefit from this worthy cause this year include the Thusanani Childrens Foundation, the Society for Animals in Distress, the Soweto Home of the Aged, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa, Takalani Special School, the National Horse Trust, the SAPS Windows and Orphans Fund and the Sithabile Child & Youth Care Centre.
Each horse and its charity and corporate sponsor will be publicly represented by a celebrity and the occasion presents the public with a unique opportunity to rub shoulders with some of South Africa’s most famous faces.
One lucky racegoer at Charity Mile will win an all-expenses-paid cruise for two to the Caribbean, which has been donated by Cruises International and is valued at R75 000. It’s a free-entry competition and entry forms will be available at the gates.
And between the racing action and getting the autographs of their favourite celebrities, racegoers at Charity Mile will be entertained by a five-a-side touch-rugby challenge between clubs and schools from the Falcons Rugby Union. The rugby competition will comprise three categories: Open Division, Secondary School Division and Primary School. The winners will walk away with R10 000, R3 000 and R2 000 respectively. The club that brings the most supporters to the racecourse will win an additional R10 000.
The rugby shootout will take place on the lawn in front of the east side of the grandest and a Miss Bikini contest featuring some of South Africa’s loveliest women will add spice to an exciting and fun-filled afternoon.
Robert Garner, Phumelela’s General Manager Marketing and Communications, says: “The Charity Mile is a unique event and also one of our favourite events. It’s an exciting and novel way of expanding the contribution Phumelela already makes to our communities through the company’s other CSI initiatives like the annual Phumelela Christmas Tree and our sponsorship of the SAPS Mounted Unit.
“Many thanks to the various sponsors. Each makes a unique contribution, which collectively assist us hugely in staging an exhilarating event. As always, charity will be the big winner and we invite everybody to join in the fun and simultaneously experience the magic of thoroughbred horseracing,” he added.
The Charity Mile November Handicap takes place on Saturday 1 November at Turffontein Racecourse in Johannesburg. Entrance is FREE and there is ample secure parking. The gates will open at 10h00. The Charity Mile will be televised live on SS1 from 16h00 to 16h30.
Charities at Charity Mile 2008:
The Thusanani Childrens Foundation
The Society for Animals in Distress
SAGA (South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind)
Animal Anti Cruelty
FreeMe
San Michele
The Association for the Physically Disabled: Greater Johannesburg
Soweto Home of the Aged
Alberton Record Upliftment Fund
The Sithabile Child & Youth Care Center
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa
Takalani Special School
Logwood Village
National Horse Trust
SAPS Windows and Orphans Fund
Wentworth Development Forum
Celebrities at Charity Mile 2008:
Michelle and Riaan Garforth
Neil Andrews
Percy Montgomery
Danny K and Lee-Ann Liebenberg
PJ Powers
Malaika
Edith Venter
FHM Models x5
Jake White
David O'Sullivan – 702
Vanessa Carreira and Claudia Henkel
Andre Pretorius
Tammy-Ann Fortuin
Kuli Roberts and Siyabonga Ngwekazi
Oscar Pistorius and Liezel van der Westhuizen
Godfrey Khotso Mokoena
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