Volunteering at Race for Life to help fight against breast cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Over 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK and around 370 men. One in seven women in the UK will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime but thanks to research, more people are surviving breast cancer than ever before. There are many ways you can get involved to help the fight. You can volunteer, fundraise or even organise social and special events. On the 9th of October, I volunteered at the Race for Life at Victoria Park and it was an honour to be a part of something so special and to meet people who knew someone or had themselves been affected by breast cancer.
The Race for Life is Cancer Research UK’s largest fundraising event series. The events, which take place across the UK, include 3k, 5k, and 10k routes for participants to walk, jog, or run, as well as some pretty muddy obstacle events. Race for Life, which began more than 25 years ago as a women-only event, has grown into a series of hundreds of events across the country, raising nearly £500 million for cancer research over the last quarter-century. For the first time in 2019, the Race for Life invited men to participate, making it truly inclusive and giving people the opportunity to come together with their family and friends and join the movement to beat cancer.
Someone in the United Kingdom is diagnosed with cancer every two minutes. Our participation in events like the Race for Life allows Cancer Research to continue its ground-breaking work to see more people survive cancer. Cancer Research UK is a global leader in developing new methods to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer. Their research is not funded by the government. They rely on the generosity of people like us to raise funds for them. Participating in the Race for Life allows us to create more tomorrows for more people. Everyone is welcome to participate, regardless of fitness level, background, or gender. Cancer doesn’t care who you are, so they made sure that everyone has the opportunity to participate in the movement. Participants come from a variety of backgrounds and have a variety of stories to tell, but they all have one thing in common: a desire to help beat cancer.
I hope this has encouraged some of you to take part in the next Race for Life or find some way to get involved for a good cause! I had the most amazing time and would do it all over again. We can come together in so many ways to help beat cancer, so many lives have been changed through Cancer Research Race for Life and it was such a pleasure to know that I have contributed to that. It’s not too late for you to get involved and contribute too.
