Our story so far
Pontypool Relay for Life began in 2016 and it was recognised during our fantastic first relay that the attendance of young people was significant. As preparations for Relay for Life 2017 began, our small Youth Committee was established, the very first in the UK. Team Pink were on the map and wow, did we make an impact. During the first year, our small Youth Committee raised nearly £2,700 and had a presence in 5 schools around the Torfaen community. The initial role of the Youth was to raise awareness amongst young people around living a healthy lifestyle to prevent cancer and other diseases. In addition, the Youth aimed to take part in lots of activities to fundraise for CRUK. During the main relay event, the Youth introduced the themed laps, sold merchandise and read a beautiful poem in the Candle of Hope ceremony.
We are now in our eighth year as an established Youth Committee. We have grown in numbers, we have seen members promoted to the adult committee and head off to university, and we now have presence in a wider amount of schools around the community. As an ethusiatic Youth Committee we have raised nearly £35,000. We continue to meet monthly where we discuss fundraising ideas, how to share our messages within our schools and our role on the day of relay. Up to now we have attended bucket collections in supermarkets and shops, held events in our schools including our own Relay for Life, we have made and sold slime to our friends, modelled in fashion shows, sold merchandise in schools and clubs, guessed the name of the teddy and unicorn and guessed how many sweets are in a jar. This year, our chairperson Megan has had the bonkers idea that she will jump our of an aeroplane and has rasied £3,000 indiviudally up to date. We continue to set ourselves a monthly challenge to complete in our own schools and out in the community. These have included Christmas jumper day, superheroes day, wear a crazy hat day and a fashion show.
Our role on Relay for Life day
From the start of relay day we are very involved. We line the relay teams up for the starting lap, support both the survivors and candle of hope tents, announce the themed laps, make sure that teams are aware of the itinerary as the day goes on, sell merchandise and finally help to give out the medals after the final lap.
One of our most important roles is to lead the Candle of Hope ceremony. We read a beautiful poem promoting hope every year and we introduce speakers, soloists and then our beautiful relay choir, Vibe. Finally, we lead our relay community around a lap of remembrance.
Why Team Pink?
Our previous Youth Committee chairperson, Eve, was in role from the start. Just before the COVID 19 pandemic, Eve carried out her last duty within her role, speaking at a nationwide CRUK event. Eve played a massive part within the Youth Committee - attending events, raising awareness, supporting and nurturing the Youth Committee members and raising funds for CRUK. She has continued her role within Pontypool Relay for Life as a member of the adult committee, initally leading the Youth and now leading the Candle of Hope role around her university studies.
Eve said “I have matured and grown in so many positive ways since the start of my Relay for Life journey. I have always been confident and happy yet becoming a small part of the Youth Comminttee was such a worthwhile experience to prepare me for the challenges that I am facing daily and those that I will face in the future. I loved every minute of being part of the Team Pink family and recommend getting involved to build confidence, new friendships and to have fun. I also found it worthwhile to improve my understanding of cancer awareness so that I can support people or carers who are living with cancer every day. Throughout this journey I have learned that we CAN and we WILL beat cancer sooner!”
Eve continues to raise awareness whilst studying Journalism at university. Most recently, Eve has been working on a prototype magazine called "The C Word".
