THE evergreen story of Alice in Wonderland has helped put one of the region’s racecourses in the running for a top national award.

Ripon Racecourse has been named as a finalist in one of the leading categories of the 2015 RCA Showcase Awards – and will find out if it has won at a ceremony at Ascot next month.

The course was nominated in the Racing Together Community and Corporate Social Responsibility category for its #RiponAlice campaign and its August 18 family day of racing this year, which celebrated the story of Alice.

Author Lewis Carroll spent many of his teenage years in Ripon when his father worked as a Canon at Ripon Cathedral. The city shares many close links with the story such gypsum holes and carvings of rabbits and hares in the cathedral.

Working with local community groups, libraries and schools the racecourse set up local community group called #RiponAlice and started a campaign to involve local resources and help bring the community together to celebrate the story’s 15oth anniversary and help educate locals and children of the connections.

The race day was the primary event in the celebrations and played a in educating the young racegoers, even teaming up with a local theatre production group.

The racecourse's marketing executive Eric Boswell said: “We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for the award which holds such great recognition within the horse racing industry.

“Being able to involve the local community in celebrating the anniversary and share the proud heritage was something we are really proud of. It’s certainly set the foundations for some great community working relationships for the future.”