On Sunday, I’m taking part in the Harrogate 5k Race for Life with four of my friends as ‘Team Fiona’, named after my Mum. These lovely people have stuck by me since Mum’s diagnosis providing listening ears, a comfy sofa and unlimited hugs. Each of us has our own reasons for taking part so here’s a quick post to share with you all why this race is important to us.

Beth: I’m taking part in the Race for Life for Cancer Research UK to raise as much as possible for this amazing charity. In the UK, one in two people born after 1960 will get cancer during their lifetime. I’m not great at maths, but that’s half of us. In the 1970s, only a quarter of people survived cancer. Today, more than half will survive for at least ten years all due to excellent research funded by charities like Cancer Research UK. Let’s make sure this progress continues!!

Grace: I’m taking part in the race for life for two very special people I know who are currently battling cancer, Fiona and Graham. Such events raise awareness and much needed funds, uniting the nation in the battle against cancer. I will feel proud to run the race for these two incredible people and hope that our efforts will one day help to eliminate this devastating disease.

Harri: I’ve known the Barrow family all of my life. Naomi and I have been friends since we were weeks old, so I can’t remember a time without her, and Fiona, in my life. It’s very important to me to run this race to prove to Fiona that I can do it. I also want to raise money so that Cancer Research can keep researching treatments and less people die from cancer in future.

Naomi: I ran the race for life with Grace last year and it was awesome. I wasn’t sure that Mum would still be with us for the race this year, but she is and that’s even better! Whilst running this race is not going to ‘cure’ Mum, it makes me feel like I’m doing something in what can often seem like a hopeless situation. I hope that raising money for Cancer Research, will enable them to continue their work, so less people receive the devastating news that someone they love is going to die from cancer.

Sarah: The reason I’m running is because there’s no reason not to. It’s such an amazing experience to know that the money you raise WILL help people. I’ve never been involved in a charitable cause where the support for it is so unified before. Everyone is affected by cancer; directly or indirectly. So there’s no reason not to support the cause. But I want to live in a world where cancer is rare, not expected and not just accepted as what happens.

Now that you know why we’re doing this, please consider sponsoring one (or all!) of us for the race this Sunday. Any donation, big or small, helps Cancer Research to continue their incredible work. For our individual fundraising pages, please click our names. Our team page is here. You can also donate to my page by texting ‘RFLN94 £[amount]’ to 70070.