Over the weekend a few hundred people came to Grattons Park in Pound Hill for the twenty four hour Relay for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK.
Organised by the committee and lead by Laura Senekal, the weekend was once again a huge success with a massive £50,000 raised, beating previous years and smashing any set targets.
We had three trophies available for the teams:
* Top Fundraiser went to Little Gems who raised over £10k
* Top Donation Station went to Buzzum Buddies who collected 330 donation bags worth over £6k to the Charity
* Spirit of Relay went to More the Merrier for being so much fun over the weekend
Over the year, each team entered found various ways of raising money to put into the pot at the final Relay for Life weekend. This year the sun shone down on the event, as it did last year, and made it a fun, entertaining and emotional couple of days. As well as the entrants, organisers and supporters present were the local fire brigade spraying water on the people walking on the track with help from the First Aid team. His Worshipful the Mayor Lee Burke and Mayoress Ali Burke also came along in support. Two local Community Wardens, Carolyn Rosier and Stuart Hendry looked on with a gentle and comforting presence.
Over the weekend entertainment came from the following:
* Nickie Poslad School of Dance
* Crawley Black Belt Accademy
* Reigate Sea Cadets Band
* Fi Steps
* The Matt McConnan Band
* Solice
* The Songbirds Choir
* Andromeda
* Chinchilla Zilla
We would like to congratulate all who were involved and to those who came along in support of this magnificent event. As Laura Senekal said in her speech “cancer never sleeps so we didn’t either”.
The teams were as follows:
* Sweetness and Light – Capt. Claire Harker
* Team Yummy!
* The Single Ladies
* Amigos para Siempre
* Starbucks
* The Red Runners – Capt. Deborah Davies
* NEDS NOMADS
* More the Merrier
* Completely Mental – Capt. Tracy Wells
* Crawley Chamber of Commerce – Capt. Steve Rham
* Buzzum Buddies
* Just Wills
* Happy Feet – Capt. Cala Golder
* The Double D’s – Capt. Emma Duke
* Funky Fabulous Playworkers
* Beck’s Bounces Back – Capt. Cath Byrne
* Rhinestone Cowboys – Capt. Gemma Robinson
* If Carlsberg Did Realy Teams…. – Capt. Nikky Smith
* Little Gems
* Shooting Stars – Capt. Michelle Fitzgerald-Lees
* Sudra’s Quest – Capt. Jamie Nayee
* The Vino KeenOs – Capt. Tracy White
* Team Ross
* Purple Party People
* Woo Woo’s
* To Be Advised – Capt Matt Cole
* Grampus 2010
* The Referees – Capt. Donna Smith
* Suzy’s Starlets
We apologies if we did not get all the Captains names, it was a very busy weekend and you were all very busy walking the track. We did get to speak to Steve Rham, Captain of the Chamber of Commerce Team who told us he carried a pedometer which over the course of the weekend clocked up 34,600 steps. Steve said “if i did that myself, that would mean together everyone who took part would have walked well over a million steps! We are very proud to have raised just over £2,500 for Cancer Research UK”. Although Steve went on to say he felt extremely sore and tired after the event, it was all well worth it and they will, as they have done for many years, be entering again next year.
We took footage and pictures for you to enjoy. We still shed a tear when listening to Laura’s speech, so it might be wise to get the tissue ready 
xx
Footage from Saturday and Sunday
Pictures of Relay for Life 2010
The last lap of 2010 and the first of 2011
Laura Senekal and Mayor Lee Burke hand out the awards
