Relay spaces filling up
There are only 27 spaces left for teams to join a 12-hour-long event raising money for cancer support services.
Relay for Life Taranaki will take place on March 28 and is a chance to celebrate the people who have battled or are battling cancer and are winning, or to remember those who have lost their life to the disease, all the while raising money for the Taranaki Cancer Society.
Taranaki Cancer Society fundraising and events coordinator Cassie Rowe said that last year more than 700 people attended the event, which sees teams walking, running or even skipping around Inglewood’s TET Stadium from 10.30am to 10.30pm.
Rowe said out of the 73 sites available for teams only 27 were left. ‘‘We’re really hoping to sell it this year. We’re doing really well and I’ve got that 73 goal in sight,’’ she said.
Teams are usually made up of around 10 people to share the load of walking. This means participants can have fun with people around the event, which includes a magician and entertainment.
‘‘We do have a couple of people that we know of doing the whole 12 hours. They’re still part of a team but they’ll do the full 12 hours themselves, which is quite impressive,’’ she said.
Last year the relay raised more than $114,000 and Rowe said this year there were hopes of raising $156,000.
This figure will pay for 12 postradiotherapy workshops, 1000 one-hour counselling sessions for both patients and their families, 600 information booklets, 300 supportive home care visits, 220 oncology massages, a year’s supply of sunscreen for community events and a patient shuttle service to Palmerston North for cancer treatment and cancer research.
‘‘It’s a real community event. It’s for the community and essentially run by the community.’’
To enter a team you can go to relayforlife.co.nz or pop into the Taranaki Cancer Society.