With just 10 weeks to go until this year’s Dumfries & Galloway Relay For Life at Bladnoch Park in Wigtown, fundraisers are tirelessly working to support the lifesaving charity Cancer Research UK. Over the coming weeks they will hold events from snail racing to psychic nights, quizzes to bucket collections, and bingo to a sponsored cycle.
One inspirational young team member, Six year old Samantha Cronnie (main image), has got behind the event’s campaign to try to collect half a million five pence pieces this year –one to signify every £1 teams in Dumfries & Galloway will have raised by the end of the 2017 Relay For Life. Since 2008, just over £450,000 has been raised within the region to help fund research into new treatments and prevention methods for over 200 types of cancer and this year’s target is to raise that total to half a million pounds.
Team members have been, quite competitively, collecting five pence pieces for the past year and have already banked more than 22,000 coins but recently joining the campaign after a team night, Samantha has pulled out all the stops and has already collected almost 6,000 coins (£300) to support her team’s fundraising efforts. When asked what her motivation was to take part in Relay and raise money, Samantha said, “to help Cancer Research UK and to help people who are sick to get medicine. My favourite thing is sleeping over at the Relay and running round the track.”
Samantha and her team will join the 21 teams, 290 participants and 18 survivors and caregivers already signed up to take on the 24 hour challenge. There’s still time to register your team or to participate as a survivor at www.cruk.org/relay and to help create a world with more tomorrows.
For more information contact Relay For Life volunteer chair Anne Barclay on 07834693420 or email [email protected].
Fundraising events include:
Snail Race, Friday 29 April, 8pm, The Bruce Hotel Newton Stewart
Quiz, Friday 5 May, 7.30pm, The Crown Hotel Newton Stewart
Bake Sale, Saturday 6 May, from 9am, RBS Newton Stewart
