We will be unveiling some fun challenges and sponsorship opportunities for you to get involved in during the week, along with our Grand National sweepstake, which you can run with family, friends and work colleagues. So please do take a moment to check these out.
As so many people face financially uncertain futures it is incredibly hard to ask anyone to donate money right now. But I feel this is a wonderful opportunity for the Sporting Life family, which you are very much part of, and the racing industry as a whole to show the positive impact we can have. This is the time for us to unite to remind the world of the good that sport can achieve. Any little you can give, please do and I thank you so much for your support.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve gone through every emotion possible in the last 10 days, as I try to figure out this new life. Working from home, fighting for the only desk in the house with my wife, while caring for a busy and nosey 17-month-old is very testing. Yes, we need to keep this in perspective, we are being asked to sit on our sofa, not get into the trenches. But that doesn’t mean we should dismiss seeing our whole lives change and the toll this can take on us.
I’ve gone through extreme sadness when I could not be with my mum on her 70th birthday; dismay as my skiing holiday was postponed, at a time when I really needed a break; frustration as the building work on our home extension was suspended; fear at how the world will look after all this is over; and a lot of anger when watching Piers Morgan scream his views down the camera at me – I’m not sure that type of journalism is classed as ‘key work’. All small problems in the grand scheme.
I’ve also experienced joy due to spending more time with my daughter Georgia. On the whole she has been great, staying quiet through most, if not all, video conferences and entertaining herself as much as possible. Playing more of a part in her fledgling education and watching her learn new words and pick up new games every day provides an unrivalled happiness. Teaching her to say ‘Nanna’ so we could sing Happy Birthday to my mum over video call was an incredible moment, one I would not have experienced if not in lockdown. I know I’m lucky.
We are also undergoing a major redesign of our website to improve the user experience. We know not everything on our website is perfect, but we are working to solve these issues and make our product an even better one for you.
Progress will slow slightly during the lockdown, but over the next few weeks and months you will see our site looking different and performing even better.
Our Fast Results app for Apple phones (iOS) is developing into an all singing all dancing app, where you can now get all of our excellent racing editorial, previews, tips and videos. Football and all other sports will follow on this shortly. Just search 'Fast Results' in the App store to download this for free.
For the first time ever we have launched an Android app, which is really exciting and will provide even more of our readers with the ability to access Sporting Life through their phones in a much more convenient way. Like the Apple app, this has all of our racing features and live services, with football and all other sports joining later.
Search 'Sporting Life' to find this in places like the Google Play store. As it is new, you might need to scroll down a bit to find it.
Georgia is now crying, as she's got bored of chasing the cat around the house, so that's my signal to sign off. Thank you for taking the time to read my latest musings and, again, thank you for being with Sporting Life during this time.
If you would like to contact me directly then please do at gareth.jones@pbc88.org
Take care
Gareth