A RELAY event lasting 24 hours has been launched to show the fight to tackle cancer never sleeps.
Fund-raisers gathered in Angel Place last Sunday (April 11) to encourage people to put teams together to take part in the walking event.
Relay for Life will take place on Saturday (September 12) and Sunday (September 13) at RGS The Grange as a unique celebration of life and hope.
This is the third relay event in Worcester and it has previously raised £30,000. Organisers are aiming to hit that target again or receive even more donations this year.
Teams are made up of eight to 15 people of any age and members will take turns walking a track while guests enjoy the surrounding festivities. Participants will have tents set up nearby so they can rest, eat and sleep when they are not walking.
At night the Candle of Hope ceremony will begin, this is the most poignant part of the day. Specially made bags are decorated with touching messages in memory or in celebration of loved ones and are filled with sand and lit up with candles around the RGS The Grange.
Lezley Moran, volunteer chair of Cancer Research UK’s Relay for Life in Worcester, said: “It’s a great way to spend time with your friends, family and colleagues while raising money for a worthwhile cause.
“Despite improvement in treatment, cancer causes more than one in four of all deaths in the UK, Cancer Research UK wants to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured and needs the help of people in Worcester to help save more lives.”
Vicki Gaffer, entertainment and media chair, said: “The launch went really well and we got a lot of interest when trying to promote the relay.
“Not a lot of people have heard of it before but it is for anyone who has been touched by cancer. The survivors take the first lap, it is celebrating that people will eventually be cured and that’s what we are raising money to do.
“The event will run all through the night as a symbol that cancer never sleeps.”
