FOCP opens registration for ‘Relay For Life’ walkathon, world’s biggest cancer fundraiser

Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP) UAE has announced that registration is now available online for people who are interested to join Relay For Life, the unique 24-hour cancer walkathon, which comes back for its second edition to the UAE to bring community together and continue the global march dedicated to cancer prevention and treatment.

Relay For Life, organised in collaboration with the American Cancer Society, is considered the largest fundraising event for cancer patients in the world. It was held for the first time in the MENA region by FOCP in Sharjah in 2017, and saw 2,500 people from the UAE come together to raise awareness on cancer and provide financial support to patients and their families. The event aims to promote social responsibility and highlight the importance of donations in providing treatment to cancer patients.

The overnight experience will be hosted at the American University of Sharjah on November 22 and 23, and will include team walks, campsites for teams to do their fundraising campaigns and other recreational activities for families.

Those who are interested can register by accessing the website: .

People can register in three ways. The first is by forming a team, in which a team captain inputs information about their group under a team name of their choosing. The minimum number of people to make a team is two. There is no limit on the maximum number.

The second way to participate is by joining an existing team. The participant can fill in the team’s name and add his or her name to the team in order to participate with them. They can also participate individually by joining as a single member.

On-site registration on the day of the event will also be available. However, participants are advised to complete the registration process online if they want to avoid queues and save time. Those who register online will also have their T-shirts and caps delivered to them before the event. Tents, market tables, accessories bags and Relay For Life Luminaria can also be reserved online.

The registration fee for participants above the age of 13 is AED 25 which will go towards supporting cancer patients. Those below 13 years can participate for free.

During the event, team members will take turns walking around a 400-metre track for 24 hours. A requirement of the walkathon is that each team will have a member on the track throughout the 24-hour event to symbolise that ‘cancer never sleeps’ and so shouldn’t the community’s efforts to safeguard itself. The round-the-clock event is also an ode to the intrepid spirit of cancer patients who do not stop because they are tired, and for one night, neither do Relay participants.

Badr Al jaaidi, Relay For Life project manager, said: “With the second edition of the Relay For Life walkathon, we seek to build on the success of the 2017 event, which witnessed the participation of 2,500 individual and corporate volunteers. We urge every concerned citizen and resident to join our fight  against cancer and raise vital funds, which will go a long way to help and support cancer patients and their families.”

Founded in 1999, FOCP was established to help alleviate the financial and emotional burden that cancer often imposes on patients and their families, and to promote awareness about the six early detectable forms of the disease; breast, cervical, prostate, skin, testicular and colorectal cancers. Apart from its awareness role, FOCP is committed to providing moral and financial support to thousands of patients and their families of all ages and nationalities across the UAE. To date, FOCP has provided support to more than 4,500 cancer patients and their families.