Relay for Life UCC | Ellen Desmond

 UCC Cancer Society members launched the university’s first official Relay for Life campaign. Thursday the 18th of October saw society members spreading information and gathering volunteers for what hopes to be the biggest event seen on campus next year. An Information Night was held the following Monday, during which every seated person in Boole 2 was asked to stand if a way they were affected by cancer was mentioned, and every single person ended up standing.The Relay for Life Campaign is a huge global phenomenon which is driven by the slogan “Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back”. Relay for Life fundraising events have already taken place in over twenty countries around the world and now Ireland.On the 22nd-23rd of February 2013, UCC hopes to see its very own Relay take place in the Mardyke Arena, which will be Cork’s first Relay. The campaign starts now because without enough cancer survivors and teams taking part the event, it will not be able to go ahead.Relay for Life is not a race and participants do not need to be overly athletic. There will be several entertaining events incorporated into UCC’s Relay, including live music, food stalls and games. Relay “teams” are being asked to get involved as soon as possible and each to take turns walking around the track next February, with the intention being to have someone moving on the track at all times for 24 hours straight. Gavin O Donovan, a cancer survivor, says of Relay; “I believe that Relay means uniting for 24 hours and saying hope will conquer all. Relay is 24 hours to come together to fight back”.During a Relay the Candle of Hope ceremony takes place as night falls, and remembers those we have lost to cancer. Over the coming months a Candle of Hope committee will be seen outside the Boole Library on Tuesdays and Thursdays of every week. The committee invites everyone interested to purchase a candle bag for five euro, and to write a personal message of remembrance or celebration on it. All of these will be lit and displayed along the Mardyke Track during next February’s event.All money raised by UCC’s Relay will go to cancer research and local cancer charities. Though this event is being organised by the CancerSoc in association with the Irish Cancer Society, all UCC Clubs and Societies are invited to take part by putting in a Relay team in an attempt to make this a campus-wide event.For further information or if anyone is, or knows a survivor, or has a possible Relay team, the CancerSoc can be contacted at cancer@uccsocieties.ie or equally by liking the Facebook page and sending a message. For general queries, or if you are affected by cancer in anyway, the National Cancer Helpline can be contacted on 1800 200 700.