HUNDREDS of people will took part in a fundraising relay to support Cancer Research UK this weekend.

The Relay For Life is a team fundraising challenge which aims to bring together communities, friends and families of people affected by cancer to raise money to tackle the disease.

Joanne Jackson organised the event, which saw teams from around York walk laps around a track at the University of York in a relay for 24 hours as “a unified act against cancer”, with 21 teams of survivors and other participants signed up.

The relay will also include a family fun day, with local bands, singers and entertainers. Entry is free from noon on Saturday and open to the public, with stalls and a candle lighting ceremony in memory of cancer victims from 8pm.

Joanne - pictured with teammate Mandy Wilson - said: “We’re absolutely pleased to have 300 participants as it’s the first relay and nobody had really heard of them, unlike the Race For Life.

“Our target was £26,000 and we’d already hit £46,000 by Friday morning, we’re so chuffed.”

Graham Mackfall is the captain of one of the teams who took part in the event, which happened four years - almost to the day - since he was first diagnosed with cancer.

He was diagnosed after repeated investigations into a constant itch, which left him sleeping for only about 30 minutes a night, eventually found he had advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma.

He said: “I remember being sat in various hospital hallways and crying, almost knowing what the outcome of the biopsy and other tests would be. The recurring thought in my head was the sadness and upset at the possibility of having to leave my family and most importantly my daughter. I couldn’t imagine having to explain to her that daddy wasn’t going to get better, and I couldn’t bear the thought of her growing up not knowing who I was except for in photos and videos.

“By the time the oncology meeting with the consultant came around I pretty much knew what I had, but even when they told me it didn’t sink in for a few minutes. Then the consultant stopped talking and I burst into tears. By this point it was a mixture of shock, fear and also hope because to be honest I couldn’t have lived for much longer the way I was.”

Extensive chemotherapy eventually eradicated the cancer from Graham’s body, and he now only needs check-ups every six months, but said he wanted to do all he could to ensure other people had similarly positive outcomes.

He said: “Mine is a good luck story and I know there are many people who are not as lucky as me. Without the wonderful NHS staff i would not be here now.

“If I hadn’t have persisted at the doctors I wouldn’t be here now. Without my family I wouldn’t be here now. Make the most of your life and be kind to people because you don’t know what they are going through.”