Determined Oldhamers gear up for special Race for Life weekend

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Determined fundraisers across Oldham are set to unite against cancer by taking part in a special Race for Life weekend this September. 

Organisers Cancer Research UK cancelled all 400 mass participation events in 2020 to protect the country’s health during the COVID-19 outbreak – and this included the Race for Life 5K at Alexandra Park in Oldham which had been due to take place in June.

The charity is expecting a staggering £160 million drop in income in the year ahead, with a £44 million cut to life-saving research funding already in 2020.

Now to help tackle the devastating loss, undeterred women and men are vowing to raise funds by completing their own Race for Life 5K in their nearest green space on Saturday, September 26.

They plan to take part outdoors either alone or in small, socially distanced groups - but all on the same day - to help people with cancer. 

Supporters can visit: raceforlife.org and sign up free for a “Very 2020 Race for Life”.

Anna Taylor, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for the North West, said: “COVID-19 has made the fight against cancer even harder.

“With over 40,000 people diagnosed with the disease every year in the North West, we will never stop striving to create better treatments and to ensure people affected by cancer get the support we need.

"But we can’t do it alone.

"That’s why we need people to join us for a Very 2020 Race for Life.

“Vital cancer research has been delayed this year.

"Even though we have to Race for Life differently in 2020, nothing’s going to stop us running, walking and jogging to raise money and help beat cancer.

“Whatever the hurdle, we’ll keep going and we’d urge as many people as possible across Oldham to join in on September 26.

"People can set off from their home to complete 5k their way that day.

"Things haven’t gone to plan for any of us in 2020.

"This is going to be a very 2020 Race for Life but together we will still beat cancer.”

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, is an inspiring series of 5K, 10K, Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids events which raise millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer by funding crucial research.

Thanks to the generosity of people across the North West, participants last year raised over £2 million to support vital research to develop gentler and more effective treatments for cancer – a disease that will affect one-in-two people in the UK at some stage in their lives.

A live broadcast on the Cancer Research UK Race for Life Facebook page at 9.30am on Saturday September 26 will include an energiser from a fitness expert as well as inspirational messages of support from people who have been through cancer.

Participants are then invited to set off on their own Race for Life.

Organisers are also inviting participants to share photos and videos on social media using the hashtag, #Very2020RaceForLife.

Cancer Research UK’s work in to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been at the heart of progress that has seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.

Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, the charity currently funds around 50 per cent of all publicly funded cancer research in the UK.

However, as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, promising projects which could have the big answers to cancer are being held up.

Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work relies entirely on the public’s generous support.

The charity was able to spend over £30 million last year in the North West on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.

Visit: raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.

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