ORGANISERS are hoping to smash the £500,000 barrier and make this summer’s Relay for Life in Dalgety Bay the biggest yet.

It lasts from 10am on Saturday 21st June til 10am the following day and already 19 teams have signed up for event in aid of Cancer Research UK.

This will be the eighth relay in the town – it’s raised over £450,000 since 2007 – and more than £54,000 was raised last year.

The relay involves teams of eight to 15 people completing circuits of Dalgety Bay Sports Centre for 24 hours and the aim is to break the half a million pounds total this year. Committee chair Ross Cowie, who survived skin cancer in 2003, said, “Relay for Life is an all-inclusive event that gives people the chance to get together with their family, friends and community to give people more birthdays.” Whilst team members take it in turns to walk the track over 24 hours, there’s plenty of activities to enjoy with live entertainment, stalls, BBQ, a cake tent and a silent disco.

There will be best dressed tents and fancy dress competitions based on this year’s theme of the Commonwealth Games, while new for this year is a fun ‘school sports day’ for the teams to take part in.

Cancer survivors and their families play a special part in the relay, completing the first lap as guests of honour, and the event also includes the poignant Candle of Hope ceremony at dusk, to remember and celebrate loved ones who are no longer here.

The cash helps the charity combat over 200 types of cancer and Ross said, “More than one in three people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in their lives.

“Taking part in Relay For Life is about being part of a community united in the belief that it can make a difference and help beat cancer.

“We have made so much progress in the fight against this devastating disease, but it’s not just technology or knowledge that we need to win the battle to beat cancer– it’s funding.” The charity is looking for teams of all ages and levels of fitness to sign up and raise as much money as they can in the months leading up to the relay.

One of the fund-raising events this year is ‘One Big Gig’, a live music event on Saturday 3rd May in Baldridgeburn Community Centre in Dunfermline.

From 7pm, there will be live sets from Stevie Agnew, Jojo Coke, Band of Gadjiis and DJ Colin Baird – tickets are available from David Quinn on 07917 454538.

Money raised through Relay For Life funds the work of thousands of scientists, doctors and nurses who are dedicated to saving more lives by preventing, controlling and curing all cancers.

Although survival rates have doubled over the last 40 years, and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of the progress, cancer still causes more than one in four of all deaths in the UK.

To take part in the relay you must get a team together and register online at http://relay.cancerresearchuk.org/dalgety-bay. For more information, call Ross on 07880 318845.