This summer…

We saw the UKs first and only 10K Pretty Muddy.

We congratulated 56,156 ladies over the finish line. We organised promotional events and distributed 293,826 flyers.

But most importantly, with your help we have raised…

OVER £3.3million to help beat cancer sooner!

A HUGE Thank You from the Midlands Team, Deborah, Emily, Tracey, Lucy, Amy, Katie xx

Team Update Another baby on the way… Katie is about to give birth to another baby boy so will be leaving us at the end of October, whilst she is off Katy Barley will be joining us from the South West team. Katy is a brilliant event manager and we are looking forward to introducing her to all of our wonderful volunteers. A Message From The Team

“This year's Race for Life has been a huge success and on behalf of The Midlands team I would like to say a massive THANK YOU to you all, our wonderful team of volunteers, for the amazing commitment you have shown to our events in 2015. With your support we have seen over 56,000 participants cross our finish lines each enjoying an event that quite simply could not operate without you. Their positive experiences have collectively raised over £3.2 million with monies still coming in, and the quality of that experience is down to you! THANK YOU. Whether a new comer to volunteering or one of our seasonal pro’s we hope you too enjoyed your experience and we hope that you will show your support again in 2016 where we will have an even bigger calendar of exciting events to deliver, including some brand new events and venues into the portfolio! It’s only with your support that we can continue to offer such amazing events so please sign up to volunteer for 2016, recruit your friends, family, colleagues, help us to spread the word! Only together can we deliver, only together can we be beat cancer sooner. I look forward to seeing you all in 2016!”

You Say Hello... This month, we asked Andre Rhodes about her experience of volunteering with us. Andre and her husband Brian are frequent volunteers at a number of our events and always with a smile she has taken on roles such as volunteer manager, admin support, handing out medals and marshalling. We are extremely proud to have Andre in the team! How long have you volunteered for Cancer Research UK? I have volunteered for the last three years Why do you volunteer? I volunteer because for me it's a way of giving back. My mom died of cancer nearly eight years ago and she was looked after really well. Then the year after, my dad had kidney cancer and two years later secondary bone cancer in his spine. After they operated on him he was given a NEW drug and this was in 2010/11. The drug worked and we are very thankful to still have him here with us. Without constant research and drug trials this may not have been the case. What is the best thing about volunteering? The best thing is the people you meet. Both the team from CRUK, the volunteers and all the other people you meet along the way. People are always smiling. I have seen some wonderful things from a lady space hopping the 5k to a wedding proposal at the end of a race. It's very humbling! What were your stand out moments of 2015? Getting very wet and cold at the first pretty muddy on my birthday, the flowers and cake from the team made it an extra special day. Also being made to feel 'part of a family ' at every event and that you are an integral part of the team. Absolutely love it. Andre Says.. Thank you for allowing me and my family to take part in such worthwhile and extremely rewarding events. We all love it and this year there have been seven of my family who have all volunteered. I hope even more of them will join me in the coming years and make this part of our family’s traditions.

SHINE The Midlands team have recently been to London to support 3636 people as they completed a night time walking marathon. The team managed a pit stop and section of the city centre course. It was a long challenging night but despite the lack of sleep the atmosphere was electric and we want to say a huge well done to those that took part and a huge thank you to those volunteers that travelled from the Midlands to support us. Visit a Cancer Research UK Shop Birmingham Corporation Street

We have over 550 charity shops across the UK that rely on volunteers to help raise money for our pioneering research.

The Birmingham shop are always looking for stock donations and volunteers.

As a shop volunteer you’ll be the face of the charity and make a big difference to how the public sees us and the work we do. You’ll help make our shops a success on the high street, meet new people and get retail experience. Click here to find out more.

Success of Pretty Muddy As many of you will know Pretty Muddy is still a relatively new event within the Race for Life portfolio and 2015 has seen the event go from strength to strength: Over 153,000 participants have taken part in 41 Pretty Muddy event in 2015 raising a massive £7.4m! We still have events throughout October so this figure is set to rise. In the Midlands region alone our 16,000 participants have raised over £850,000. We know you all enjoyed getting muddy and we are definitely looking to hold more Pretty Muddy events in the region next year. Emily and Amy are out nearly every day searching for potential new venues so make sure you keep your eye out for any announcements on Facebook.

Winter Run Another new event… The first Cancer Research UK Winter Run took place in January and the 10K winter themed route ran through the streets of London, passing iconic landmarks along the way.An amazing 14,500 runners took part in the sell out event and following the success, Manchester, London and Liverpool will be hosting Winter Run events in 2016.

The winter theme includes snow zones and polar bear hugs.

If you fancy yourself as a polar bear or could brave the cold to hand out medals or marshal click here…

Other Volunteering Opportunities

We know how much you all love getting involved in events and with Race for Life finished for another year we thought you would be interested in other opportunities…

BIRMINGHAM Sunday 18th October The Great Birmingham Run Cheering Team Volunteers required http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/volunteer/cheering-team-volunteer-great-

birmingham-run-18th-october DERBYSHIRE Sunday 15th November Donington Park Half Marathon Event Volunteers required http://www.donington-park-half.co.uk/about-event.asp

Share your story… In March 2013, Rhys, who was 16 at the time, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma - a type of cancer that develops from muscle tissue. As a way of understanding Rhys’ treatment, his eight-year-old sister, Izzy, made a bear with a little Hickman line (which the children called a wiggly) and hat to cover his bald head. She also wrote a story to help explain things to their youngest sister, Freya. Mum Ellie, told us, “It was a difficult time for us all, but particularly for Izzy ...and Freya. I had to be with Rhys for his hospital stays and treatment, which meant that I wasn’t around as much for Izzy and Freya. I had to give up work, so with my husband continuing to work full time, our family and community really rallied around to help. Rhys had several surgeries, nine cycles of intense chemotherapy and 30 rounds of extensive radiotherapy. He’s now in remission but has some kidney damage from the treatment, as well as an impressive array of scars. He’s living life to the full and this summer he completed three A-Levels, achieving starred distinctions in two of them. He’s about to embark on a fourth A-Level in Biology as he is applying to study physiotherapy at university from September 2016.”

Deborah Jennings—National Events Manager

Stand Up To Cancer The BIG ambition is for the whole National Events Team to join forces with the Volunteer Fundraising Team and to attempt a big Stand Up to Cancer relay challenge and do our bit for the cause with the aim of raising £50,000 for Stand Up to Cancer.

The plan is to complete a continuous round the clock relay from Belfast Research Institute, through Scotland, the North, North West, Midlands, Wales, South, Central, East and then to finish in London at the new Francis Crick Institute.

The Midlands Events Team have got to get the baton from Bir-mingham to Worcester through the night on SUNDAY 4th OCTO-

BER from 10:00pm! We will be cycling, running, and walking the distance (No cars/motorbikes al-lowed!!)

If you would to sponsor us please click here:

Follow our journey… #SU2Crelay 3 Peaks There will be a SU2C event in London on 11th October. This event will see participants running up the stairs of the Gherkin, Salesforce Tower and 200 Aldersgate before abseiling down!