Cancer survivors take to the tracks in Yate to raise funds (From Gazette Series)

Cancer survivors take to the tracks in Yate to raise funds

2:45pm Monday 29th June 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

TEAMS of cancer survivors will be taking to the tracks at Yate Outdoor Sports Complex this weekend to raise funds for vital research into the disease.

Competitors taking part in the annual Relay for Life include mums, dads and grandparents from Yate and Chipping Sodbury who have battled different types of cancer and lost loved ones to the disease.

Helene Craddock, a mother-of-two from Couzens Close in Chipping Sodbury, is team leader for the Dolly Mixtures.

Mrs Craddock was diagnosed with Adenocystic Carcinoma of the salivary glands in 1991 and has undergone a series of operations and reconstructive surgery.

She said: "Having been told once that cancer is what you have, it is a diagnosis that you always live with, and live in fear of.

"I got involved in Relay for Life for the first time last year. It is a fantastic event that the whole family can be involved in and brings together the local community for 24 hours of fun, while raising vital funds for such a good cause."

Teams can walk, run or even jump their way around the circuit as long as one member remains on the track for 24 hours.

There will also be stalls, competitions and games throughout the event for families and supporters to enjoy. All funds raised will go to Cancer Research UK.

It starts at 12noon on Saturday, July 4 and will include a survivors’ lap and a candlelit ceremony for lost loved ones at dusk.

Those to be honoured during the relay include Vanessa Dye, a childminder from Brimsham Park in Yate, who died of pancreatic cancer last year.

Members of North Yate Childminders’ Group are entering a team, Girls Allowed, and will light candles in memory of Vanessa, who died aged 50.

Her husband Charlie said: "Vanessa and the other childminders were inseparable.

"This is a really lovely way to remember her and it will help other people in the same boat."