Race for cash as funds remain outstanding

WOMEN who took part in this year’s Race for Life in Oldham are being urged to summon the energy for one last dash — to return the cash.

Cancer Research UK is concerned that not all participants who walked, jogged or ran the 5k course have handed in their sponsor money.

Organisers are appealing to fund-raisers to make a special effort to ensure the £203,000 target set for the Alexandra Park event is achieved.

Nationally, one in three women who participated in the Race for Life series last year failed to raise funds for the charity.

But bosses stress that every penny counts when it comes to finding new ways to prevent, treat and diagnose cancer — a disease that will affect one in three people in the UK.

Organiser Imogen Johnson said the Oldham event in June was a tremendous success with 2,500 women taking part.

But she warned: “Regrettably, it’s not unusual for all kinds of charity events to suffer from a minority of participants failing to raise funds. If people don’t return sponsor money then our ability to support more world class science is affected.

“Participants who were sponsored should show off their medal and chase those who pledged cash.”

Race for Life is vital as it funds around one fifth of Cancer Research UK’s work. That currently includes a major international cancer prevention trial which aims to discover if a drug called anastrozole can prevent breast cancer in high-risk post-menopausal women.

The charity’s work has helped save hundreds of thousands of lives with survival rates improving for nearly all cancers and the overall death rate down 11 per cent in the last 10 years.

To donate, visit www.raceforlife.org or call 0871 641 2276.