ONE of the Cancer Council's biggest annual fundraisers in Tamworth has been canned for 2019, but a group of students are trying to ensure the event hasn't done its dash.
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The pin was quietly pulled on this year's Relay for Life, which has run in Tamworth for more than a decade, with a raft of staffing changes at the Cancer Council office and perceived pressure to raise funds in dire drought conditions highlighted as main factors.
The relay has raised up to $50,000 in Tamworth in the past.
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However, student leaders at Oxley High School are ready to take the baton and run their own relay event later in the year.
The Oxley event will be run with the Cancer Council's support, but the relatively smaller school facilities mean it could only be open to students, their friends and families.
Oxley has been one of the biggest contributors to the Relay for Life in recent years having entered between 60-80 students in the charity walks.
The year 12 sports council and SRC thought it would be too hard to get its cohort to travel to Armidale's 2019 relay, so they're taking on the huge task of organising a day-long event themselves.
"It is a big responsibility especially if it goes after school hours needing to supervise and cater for all of those kids," school captain Jessica Watt said.
"We'll do the best we can."
The year 12 cohort voted for the Cancer Council as its charity for 2019, organising a slew of events to raise money for the charity.
Sports council representative Mitchell McCormack said the year group probably saw a wide-reaching value in choosing the Cancer Council.
"Cancer is a big part of a lot of people's lives, that's why we decided to vote for it," he said.
The school will meet with the Cancer Council this week to get a better scope of the logistics and sponsorship required to run the relay.
But Oxley is already considering inviting other schools to participate next year if this edition runs smoothly.
Tamworth Cancer Council community relations coordinator Katherine Welsh said the relay was "definitely not on its way out" and there was currently a call out for more committee members to help get the 2020 event up and going. She said the local fundraising focus would be on the Dance for Cancer held on June 22 at town hall.