SWINDON Speedway have been handed the Ben Fund Bonanza meeting to launch next season.

The event raises cash for the Speedway Riders’ Benevolent Fund to help with injured and retired riders and will take place at the Abbey on Sunday, March 8, at 4pm and will be the seventh staging of what has become the traditional start to the British season.

Swindon co-promoter Colin Pratt said: “I’m looking forward to it, I’ll get back in the swing of it. We never did a Ben Fund meeting in my time at Coventry but we did do more big meetings than most tracks.

“Obviously the Ben Fund is a great cause. I benefited from it after my accident in Belgium with the West Ham party, indeed I have found all the letters and correspondence going back to 1970, all the records of what was paid out, and these are records that I don’t think the Ben Fund have.

“It’s a great thing and that’s why I get annoyed any time riders don’t want to go out for the collection, I’ll shove them out because you never know when it is your turn. I fully support it.”

Co-promoter and team boss Alun Rossiter added: “I’m really chuffed that it’s coming to Swindon. It’s a good venue, it’s pretty central, and hopefully people have that feeling where they are hungry for a bit of speedway at the start of the year.”

“I’m hoping for a good lineup, I don’t know yet what the format will be. Whatever it is I’ll go with the flow.”

Ben Fund Secretary and Treasurer Paul Ackroyd has revealed some of the headline figures for the Ben Fund in 2014 which emphasise the continuing need for everyone’s support.

Last year’s Ben Fund Bonanza staging at Leicester raised £45,000, track collections were slightly down on previous seasons at £22,354 with Berwick again highest-collecting track.

Money spent on assisting 40 riders and ex-riders totalled £99,110.

Ackroyd said: “I’d like to thank the Swindon Promotion for allowing us to stage the event, a very important part of our fundraising of course.

“We’ve still to decide the format of the meeting at Swindon but that will be announced early in the new year.”

Julie Reading will again be looking after sponsorship arrangements for the Ben Fund Bonanza and she can be contacted on 07931 318401.