On Saturday 9th July the fourth annual Relay for Life set yet another great pace.
With thirty two teams ready to walk the course for the next twenty four hours, Laura Senekal and Darren Bow took to the stage to kick off this amazing ceremony. The teams have worked tirelessly to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
A special mention to our good friend Jules Neale who attended in support and as Captain of Team Yummy even though she has recently been very unwell with a back injury. Although the pampering administered was well worth the effort, wasn’t it Jules 
And of course, a big thank you to all those, who are still under treatment but came to support and walk the course. Amazing!
Laura wrote this for us:
Well, what can I say? What a weekend!
This is the 4th year Crawley has hosted a Relay For Life and this has been the most amazing event yet. This year we had 32 teams sign up for Relay and together they have so far managed to raise a staggering £68,000 for Cancer Research UK.
Relay For Life is a 24 hour event where teams of friends, family or colleagues take it in turns to walk for a full 24 hours as a sign that cancer doesn’t sleep. All around the track the team have stalls and fundraise furiously during the day. This year we had everything from cakes to a hog roast and tombola’s to tattoos. Even the rain could not stop the cash coming in! During this 24 hours the teams managed to bring in over £12K!!!!! Thank you Crawley!
This year we were supported by some really amazing people who came along to entertain our teams and the public. These included Flying High, Crawley Black Belt Academy, The Nickie Poslad School of Dance, Fi Steps & ACE Irish Dance Academy. We were also lucky enough to enjoy some fantastic local music talent from Solice, The Matt McConnon Band, Chinchilla Zilla, the Songbirds Choir and our very own firstaider Phil singing with Six Till Midnight.
Now, although the day sees us all enjoying a bit of a mini carnival /festival the evening really reminds us of why we are there. When the sun sets we all take part in a candle of hope ceremony, our walking track is lined with candle bags, all dedicated to people to have fought cancer. It is a time to remember, reflect and celebrate the lives of our loved ones. This year we had a special memorial for our good friend Morag Clapp who left us just after last year’s event. This year we also heard a beautiful poem written and read by one of our survivors, Cheryl Ross along with the Songbirds singing ‘I’ll Stand By You’, Shannon Stocker singing a beautiful version of ‘Dance with my Father’, and Aimee Bow finishing the ceremony off with a very emotional rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
NB: We sped up some of the walking so you could see more
I am so very lucky to have such fantastic support from the Relay committee who all come and gave their time for free as did our first aiders (SceneSafe) and the local scouts who kept everyone fed and watered for the full 24 hours….you are all absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!! And a massive thank you to Matt Pay and HSS Hire who donated all the electrical equipment we needed for the day.
I am so very grateful to everyone that took part, raised funds or just came down to see what Relay was all about, already we are seeing interest from new teams for 2012! Next year we may even theme Relay in line with the Olympics…..who knows J.
Why not go and have a look at our website (www.relayforlifecrawley.org) or add us on facebook to be updated with local relay news?
