St Joseph's Nudgee College

August 14, 2007

The Cancer Council Queensland Relay For Life event is on again this year.

The annual charity event, held at Nudgee College on the weekend of 18 and 19 August, is 18 hours filled with fun, festivities and camaraderie, celebrating life, honouring those who have survived cancer, and remembering those who have lost the battle.

Year 11 Nudgee College student Nick Youl lost his mother to cancer last year and is a keen supporter of the school's involvement in the relay.

House Dean Mr Peter Kropp is behind Nudgee's involvement. His house, Tierney, is involved in the fundraiser.

"Nudgee has three teams participating in the relay and we've been getting support from the local community and businesses sponsoring us," said Mr Kropp.

Relay For Life participants recruit friends, family, co-workers and neighbours to join in a Relay team. In the weeks leading up to the event each team member raises money by collecting donations or holding fundraising events.

On the day of Relay, team members take turns walking around the track for up to 24 hours, making sure that someone from their team is on the track at all times.

In addition to the team members who are walking on the track, hundreds of other participants camp out and together create a community party atmosphere.

The Cancer Council Queensland, an independent, community-based organisation, relies on the generosity of the Queensland public to continue its vital work. This is the first time the Cancer Council has held the event on the northside of Brisbane.

In October 2001, the Cancer Council of Queensland piloted the event on the Sunshine Coast with very impressive results. The 34 teams who participated raised in excess of $70,000.

In 2002, 5 events (Cairns, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Gold and Sunshine Coasts) raised over $450,000 with $5 million being the pooled amount from relays held in every state. In 2005, 19 events raised $2,134,000. In 2006, 23 events were held raising $2.7 million.

In 2007 there are over 30 Relay events scheduled and an expected fundraising total of $3.2 million.