AN ANNUAL charity event in Yate has again raised large amounts of money for Cancer Research UK.

The Relay For Life event has taken place at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex (YOSC) for over 10 years, with the amount of money being raised for the charity increasing rapidly in that time.

This year the event took place over the weekend of July 7th and July 8th, with over 600 participants braving the heat over a 24 hour period.

At a Relay For Life event there are numerous teams, who each need to have at least one member on the running track at all times. The fundraiser runs from 12pm to 12pm, leaving those involved facing fatigue, exhaustion and dehydration.

The event had incredible support from local businesses like Padscaff Scaffolding, Murray Hire, The Lawns Pub, Schools,1st Yate Scouts and Anytime Fitness. The main event sponsors Brandwells Construction and David Wilson Barrett Homes 'ensured the event could go ahead' with the contributions.

All 40 teams at this years event completed the challenge, and have raised more than £55,000 for the charity already.

The event has been well received over the last 10 years and event co-chair Beverley Sadier is 'very proud' of how far the relay has come.

"The 40 teams who participated this year made such an effort to make the event the vibrant, colourful and fun event it was" she said.

"The efforts they have made to fundraise have blown us away, their dedication and commitment to support the ground breaking research being undertaken at Cancer Research UK, often when times have been really tough, has been truly humbling."

Liam Craddock, who is the other co-chair at the event, also stated how 'blown away' he was by the work of the participants this time around.

"With this year being scorchingly hot, our Relayers showed such spirit and defiance" he said.

"Four incredibly brave Relayers, 'Braved the Shave' at our first Relay Shave Off. Shaun from Kings Barbers in Yate did a brilliant job.

"We had great entertainment from many bands and choirs and our fabulous DJ Dom Walker who year on year entertains us for the whole 24 hours. It was an incredible journey this time around."

The event has been growing in numbers ever since its foundation in 2006, however Beverley did reveal that they are looking to grow it again next year.

"We’d love to see more people join us next year," she said.

"We hold monthly drop in coffee mornings at The Lawns Pub Yate, on the first Saturday of the month at 11am. Everyone is welcome to pop along to find out about Yate Relay For Life and chat to others who’ve been touched by Cancer in some way."

Liam also added that "Our amazing Committee of volunteers have already started to plan next years event, we are hoping to encourage more local and national businesses to sponsor Yate Relay For Life 2019, so that we can make next year’s event epic!"

The final total for the money that has been raised is still being confirmed, but it could end up being another record-breaking year for the Yate Relay For Life team.

Beverley revealed "At the end of the Relay weekend we had raised approx £20,000 more than this time last year, our total so far is £54,500.

"With three months left until this years fundraising officially ends we are very confident we’ll smash our target of £70,000.

"This will bring Yate Relay For Life’s 13 year total to half a million pounds! This is an incredible achievement for a small town like Yate."