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The post-Christmas blues are sure to be blown away on Saturday January 7^th at Whilton Mill Kart Circuit when the Northamptonshire track will host a special one-off charity event to raise money for the Paul Lee-Davis Trust Fund.

The Foundation has been set up in memory of a much beloved devotee of the sport, Paul Lee-Davis, from Norton Canes, Cannock, Staffordshire, who sadly recently lost his year-and-a-half long battle with a rare form of leukaemia.   The Trust Fund has been set up to provide fun days out, treats or a break away for young adults aged 17-40 who are receiving treatment for any type of leukaemia or lymphoma at the haematology unit at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton."

As a family we feel it is appropriate for the fund to be at New Cross Hospital as Paul was so fond of the nursing staff there. They treated him as the person he was, not someone with an illness. The staff was also very fond of Paul.

Paul had a life-long fascination with motorsport and from his early teenage years he was be found tinkering with various machines – trying to make them go faster!  Whether it was his 50cc motorbike with its red paint-sprayed exhaust – Paul had read something in a magazine about heat exchange of exhaust gases! – or the TKM engine in bits on the kitchen floor of the house he shared with his girlfriend, Paul’s life always involved engines and, perhaps more importantly, racing the machines they were bolted to!

It was as a driver in Club 100, Europe’s (if not the world’s) most competitive arrive and drive two stroke championship, that Paul made his mark.  Having previously raced TKM karts he rapidly adapted to the C100 package and, with his ready smile and infectious sense of fun and humour, Paul became a firm favourite with his fellow competitors in the club.  Whether as a team mate in endurance racing or wearing his legendary bright orange and red striped Intrepid kart suit in sprints, Paul was a popular driver and an even more popular winner.  The cheers he received on getting what was to be in final podium place at Ellough Park in 2010 when he was already ill with leukaemia was a testament to this.

So 2012 will kick off in style with friends, family and special guests meeting for a celebration of Paul’s life and love of motorsport at Whilton Mill. Paul’s much loved home circuit.  The event will raise significant money for the charity now set up in his name and is being organised by one of Pauls’ friends and fellow Club 100 racers, Dan Underhill,

“The day will have a firm emphasis on fun, involving both individual sprint racing as well as a randomly drawn team endurance race in the afternoon.

It is the first of many events - Club 100 will be holding their own celebratory charity event later in the year also at Whilton Mill - which are being arranged to raise money for this excellent charity.

Formula One may get all the money and the glory but motorsport’s grassroots rely on people like Paul Lee-Davis.  Those people who do it for the sheer delight and life-enhancing thrill of racing.  It should be a great day out and offer everyone the chance for some fun and the opportunity to celebrate one of life’s great racers.”

We seem to have an increase in numbers of F1 drivers coming to our Karting Circuit and I was no less suprised today by an urgent phone call as I came out of a meeting in Northampton to tell me that Vitaly Petrov was at our circuit testing and could I pick up some Crayfish sandwiches.  Obviously, had we known in advance our catering team would have prepared something on site but Crayfish isn't an everyday choice. 

 Vitaly Petrov has put in a surprise visit this morning to Whilton Mill go karting circuit at Whilton Locks near Daventry.

Unlike most top drivers, Petrov did not begin his career in karting, so maybe he’s out to catch up on some fun and to discover some of the great benefits it has had on Lewis Hamilton and scores of other Formula 1 drivers.

Finishing 13th in the Abu Dhabi Grand prix last week Vitaly said he had a frustrating afternoon, “Because my DRS was not working. We thought we could have a good fight with the cars in front, but we were pretty helpless, so we decided to change the strategy. When I first stopped, we put fresh medium tyres on but unfortunately these did not last long enough so we returned to the pits on lap 38 to change to the soft. Unfortunately that ended up being too slow. The pace was not good enough to score points and that’s the reality.”

The Whilton Mill circuit is frequented by many top sports men and women and caters for a wide range of activities including quad biking, clay pigeon shooting.

We think that Vitaly must have enjoyed his visit by the beautiful smile captured here last week and whether for fun or serious training - the staff at Whilton Mill hope to see him again soon. 

As whispers would have it - that is likely to be a lot sooner than later. 

Part of this news feature by iDaventry online News and Community website. Written by David Raven. Check out their web pages for other local stories.

http://www.idaventry.com/featured2/surprise-visit-by-formula-1s-vitaly-petrov-at-daventrys-whilton-mill-karting-circuit/ 

VAT reclaimable employee entertainment!

Employee entertainment doesn’t always score high on the priority list – especially when there are so many other things to pay for. But don’t write off the annual away day just yet! 

In times of recession activities involved in improving staff engagement, team building and boosting morale – in other words ‘employee entertainment’ can be one of the most important investment expenses a business can make. Even more so for companies that have not been able to offer staff pay rises for some time and where staff have faced unsettling times such as restructuring or redundancies. Once such processes are over consolidation of company objectives and activity to pep your staff up might be just what the doctor ordered. Plus, not all companies are aware that employee entertainment (including the employees family) is VAT reclaimable – meaning that those big employee events may not cost as much as first thought.

Not to be confused with business entertainment, employee entertainment centers solely around the employees involved.  Away days, team building days and staff Christmas parties are all recognised by the taxman as being an essential positive contribution to employee’s wellbeing.   Staff having a positive outlook on their employer is ultimately an asset of the business rather than being seen as a taxable personal benefit. 

However, there is a fine line between entertaining for business and entertaining employees. Entertaining those that do not work for the business, such as customers or prospective clients is otherwise known as business entertainment.

VAT for relatives and spouses of employees can also be reclaimed providing that the event is for employee entertainment such as morale boosting purposes – this means that employees can enjoy events with their families. “In hard times like this it is probably the biggest reason Whilton Mill have seen an increase in companies hosting family fun days throughout the year and providing entertainment options for all ages from bouncy castles and face painting through to exhilarating driving challenges on the 4x4 course or Karting. It’s a great way of the company providing something tangible and of benefit to the employee and their families without it being an item that they would have to declare as a benefit in kind. You couldn’t even buy a turkey for every member of your workforce without having to declare it as a benefit,” says Whilton Mill’s owner Roger Ashby.  “Employee entertainment on the other hand is not taxable and can be enjoyed at Whilton Mill in all seasons.”

The Staverton driver made a great start from the lights and managed to keep right on the tail of the cars ahead. An early attempt to overtake saw him have a coming together with another competitor which resulted in bent front wishbones. Although this didn’t bring Jack’s race to an end, it seriously affected his pace and made controlling the car a nightmare.

Jack finished the Championship in 15th position and is now looking ahead to the winter period to rest and recuperate. When reflecting on the weekend, Dex commented; “I loved racing on the ToCA package. It was fantastic to race with such a big crowd and to be on live TV. I would like to thank all the guys from Midland Quarry Products, JD Excavations and Whilton Mill for coming to the event and supporting me and SWB Motorsport for providing them with superb hospitality as well as a faultless racing car for me.” 

Now that the season has come to an end, Jack will undergo keyhole surgery on his ankle and once he has recovered, testing will commence in preparation for the 2012 Championship in which he has already been tipped with a chance of winning.

Whilton Mill would like to wish Jack all the very best for a speedy recovery