One of the biggest social events on the Estcourt calendar is just weeks away. The 24 hour 2016 Cansa Relay for Life – Estcourt will be held on September 3 and 4 and as always, promises to be a memorable fundraising event.

The committee and team members met at Forderville Primary School’s hall last Wednesday for the Relay launch. Event Chair Anil Sookraj said that most of the planning for the eighth 24-hour event had been done and all that was left to do was recruit teams and survivors.
Mr Sookraj thanked the hard working committee, saying it was a pleasure working with dedicated people. Each committee member and Relay partner received a certificate and trophy.

A breakdown of each year’s total fundraising was given. In 2009 R32 000 was raised, thereafter in 2010 R75 000, in 2011 R81 000, in 2012 R125 000, in 2013 a massive R180 000 was raised and in 2014 and 2015 R100 000 was raised for each year. This year’s target is R100 000. “So far we have raised close to R700 000 for Cansa and this is excluding other fundraising drives like the Shavathon,” said Mr Sookraj.

The theme for this year’s Relay is ‘Paint your world purple’ and committee members were given a purple sash to mark the launch. Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) representative Sam Chikumbura who is the Head of Sustainability was present to introduce himself and said he will be part of this year’s Relay.

Mr Chikumbura commended the relay team, saying that he has been to many Relays in KwaZulu-Natal and Estcourt’s was one of the better events. He assured the committee that services from Cansa will be more available to locals and said he looked forward to working with the community to deliver services to people affected by cancer.

To conclude the meeting, Mr Sookraj went over the ground rules, explaining that team packs, which comprises of Luminaria bags and wristbands are available at R1 000 per team, this includes a participation fee of R500, R300 for a tent and R200 for the Luminaria bags.
Individuals pay R20 for entry.

Mr Sookraj also advised that no ‘walk-ins’ will be allowed after 8pm and young children must be accompanied by an adult.
For more information or to register a team contact Mr Sookraj on 036 352 3720.