TEAMS taking part in this year's Relay for Life in Evesham have managed to raise an "incredible" £60,000 to help fight cancer.

Nineteen teams took part in this year's event, which kicked off at noon on Saturday and saw team members take it in turns to relay around a track at De Montfort School over 24 hours.

The teams focus their efforts on raising money for Cancer Research UK throughout the year in the build up to the relay, and volunteer event chairman, Paul Baylis, said this may have been the "best ever year" for the Relay.

"It was absolutely incredible," he said.

"We had lovely weather for the most part although it went downhill a bit on the night. We finished with a giant Hokey Cokey and it was brilliant. We all had a really good day.

"Feedback suggests this may have been our best ever year. So many people have said that to me and we had a guest from Cancer Research UK come along and they said they could really sense the community spirit. This was great to hear because we really try to create a good community atmosphere and make it an event for everyone."

A total of 360 people registered to take part in the event, 45 of which were cancer survivors.

Live bands performed and other games and activities kept visitors and participants entertained.

"People can come to the relay laugh and cry about cancer and speak to people who are in a similar position to themselves.

"But people smile all day long. They channel the devastation that cancer brings in to doing the relay and fundraising and it really pays off. I was blown away by everyone's efforts. I just want to thank our committee, who are all volunteers, the participants, Tesco, A Plan Insurance and everyone who donated along the way and helped make it a really fantastic event."

Cancer

Research UK is dedicated to saving lives by preventing, controlling and curing all cancers.

Thanks to Cancer Research UK’s work, more people are surviving cancer than ever before. Survival rates have doubled over the last 40 years.

Money raised at the relay will help this work continue.

To find out more visit the website at eveshamrelay.org.