Survivors Luncheon, Tedburn St Mary

10 June 2009

In advance of the Cancer Research 24 Hour Relay for Life, to be held in Tedburn St Mary on July 4th 2009, Julie and I hosted a ''Survivors' Luncheon'' last Sunday.

I love this word 'luncheon' - picked it up from one of my American friends. Sounds rather posh! We laid everything out, and Andrew cooked BBQ all afternoon for us. Then there was a cream tea in case anyone was still hungry.

Here are the hostesses [before everyone arrived - so we are all neat and tidy]:

Here is the chef: AJ did a marathon amount of cooking for about 25 people! Jones rocks.

As a kick off to the Relay, the Survivors do the first Lap of Honour as special guests. This year the Survivors will be preceded by the Dartline Majorettes, and followed by the rest of the Relay entrants. So the first lap should be a spectacle worth seeing! After the lap, the survivors are treated to a cream tea, courtesy of the Tedburn St Mary Women's Institute. After that I will be doing a lot more laps! Will I ever get rid of this half a stone? Er...not if I keep eating cake. And clotted cream. Oh well...

To have a bit more fun in advance of the event, Julie [the Relay Committee Chair] and I arranged the lunch for the local cancer Survivors we know and could get in touch with. There were ten of us at the luncheon and a few who couldn’t make it. We’re hoping to find some more. We know there are more, we just don't know where they are! Get in touch please?

Meeting before the event to have a bbq and cream tea in Julie’s smashing garden was a great ice breaker for those of us who hadn’t met yet. Actually I was supposed to organise the whole thing, but I was nervous about calling people and was lucky that everyone was able to come.

And notwithstanding the rain, it was a great success - there were some sunny spots during the afternoon, and Julie sold some raffle tickets [these are for the chance to win the £1100.00 Trillium cut diamond necklace kindly donated by Michael Spiers Jewellers. All those raffle funds will be donated to Cancer Research UK.]

At Relay for Life, anyone who has heard the words "you have cancer" is considered a Survivor. A "survivor" is anyone living with a history of cancer, from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life. And by taking part in the Survivors Lap at the Relay, participants unite to show the world that life after a cancer diagnosis is a reality. That we can carry on as normal - albeit with a few extra worries...but also with a new insight into other people and their lives.

This year will be the 4th Relay for Life event to be organised by the Tedburn St Mary community. The Relay for Life is all about having fun and celebrating life, whilst at the same time, raising money for Cancer Research.

Anyone who would like to participate as a Survivor, or enter a Relay Team, the Relay registration and information is HERE

AND there’s a hog roast!! And a 24 hour bbq...and Rafael Ravenscroft on the sax and lots of good stuff. As you can see, I have my positive head on again today! :o)

Here we are, except one of the girls who had gone home by this time. You will note that I had to hide my wine glass under the chair...can't be seen to be having TOO much fun ;o)