The date for the biggest single charity fundraising event in Aylesbury, which last year raised nearly £60,000, has been announced.
Relay for Life will be held at the Aylesbury Rugby Club over the weekend of July 5-6 and teams are being invited to sign up.
Promoted as the largest non-profit fundraising event in the world, Relay for Life now takes place in more than 20 countries and involves a 24-hour, non-athletic team event over a weekend.
The Bucks Herald has signed up to support Relay for Life, started in 2009 by cancer survivor Paula Watson and Rita Butcher. It has now grown has grown year on year to become one of the area’s biggest fundraisers.
Chairman of the Aylesbury Relay for Life, Biagio Patalano said: “A number of my family members including my wife Gloria have been affected by cancer and when cancer touches your family, your attention becomes truly focused.
“Very soon our attention was drawn to the latest research and treatments. What soon stood out to us was how much of the research was funded and supported by Cancer Research UK and we looked at how we could be involved.
“My family have entered a team for the last three years named ‘La Dolce Vita’ as we believe that whatever life throws at you it is sweet, you have to treasure what you have today, not tomorrow.
“Last year, I joined the committee of Relay for Life Aylesbury and this year I am chairperson.
“Our aim, as always, is to raise as much money as possible for the charity and to also have fun while doing it.
“Another aim is to promote the success of modern treatments and we focus on the positive by raising awareness and involving as many survivors as possible in as many ways as possible.”
A team is ideally made up of between 8 and 15 people. They can be family, friends, work colleagues and of any age, from toddlers to grandparents.
Cancer survivors can also register to take part, either as part of a team or as special guests.
Each team member pays a registration fee. This covers the admin that CRUK provides and you get a team member t-shirt together with an information pack together and some fund-raising ideas.
The fees are: Adults £15, senior citizens £10 and under 18s £5. It is free for cancer survivors to register if they are not part of a team.
Apart from the relay on the day teams do a variety of fundraising activities during the months leading up to the event.
