Relay for Life present 2026 funds to Irish Cancer Society
The Relay for Life Westmeath Team handed over the funds raised at this year’s event to the Irish Cancer Society on Saturday 17 October last.
Daisy Carey and colleagues are proud of the amount they raised at the second county Relay for Life event – a total of €39,045.
The handover at the Esker Inn, Tyrrellspass was also an excuse to celebrate another successful year.
Daisy said that planning the walkathon is a year round responsibility and the committee are already preparing for 2027.
“We’ve raised a phenomenal amount of money and we had a great weekend, and it really is down to the community,” she said, “our teams because they’re the ones who do all the hard work and walk for 24 hours, and they raise all the funds.
“The teams are the backbone of the events.”
Following the official handover, the group had a bit of fun after a lot of hard work.
“After we handed over the cheque to the Irish Cancer Society, we had a bit of a karaoke session and a light hearted celebration, and it was a lovely evening.
“It was so nice to have everyone with us when we handed over the money.”
Relay for Life is the biggest cancer fundraising initiative in the world and was first brought to Westmeath by Daisy following her mother’s battle with cancer.
“At the end of the day, we all just want to make a difference like with my own mum and her diagnosis, I couldn’t help her.
“So I thought I could raise money for people who could help her, so we’re definitely going to do a third one.
“We should have the dates for next year in the next couple of weeks.”
Over the last two years Daisy, the committee and the Relay for Life teams have raised close to €100,000 for the Irish Cancer Society.
“It’s something we’re all really proud of so we’ll definitely go again because we’re working out that we’ve made just over €96,000.
“And it’s definitely a labour of love. It takes so much time we start in February for the event in September, and then there’s the cheque presentation in October, it takes the guts of a year.”
Daisy thanked all those who got involved in any way for their contributions. “I just really want to highlight our teams, our survivors, our supporters, our sponsors and anybody who donated time or anything towards the event.
“I really want to stress that without all of those people the event wouldn’t happen. The committee as well, I can’t forget them, the whole committee – we work tirelessly to make sure it’s right and getting everything together sorted.”