TEAM efforts around the clock – despite the downpours – have set fundraisers on course for a £32,000 target in Rossendale.

Around 300 hardy walkers in 30 teams put their best feet forward for the seventh annual Relay for Life event, in aid of Cancer Research UK, at Marl Pits in Rawtenstall over the weekend.

Several teams are on course to collect more than £1,000 for their efforts, which saw them complete laps of the valley track for 24 hours.

The £1,000 plus club members included Mum’s The Word, Rage Against The Disease and Team Chaos.

Their efforts rounded off a long weekend which began with a charity concert by the Houghton Weavers, supported by the 2nd Rossendale Scout Group Band, on Friday night.

Co-chairman Dave Hawley said: “The weekend went very well. The weather was not with us and it was quite damp at times but the teams embraced it and didn’t want us to finish early.”

So far organisers have already gathered in around £15,000 and hope to reach their target over the next few weeks. Including this year’s efforts, the Relay for Life event has boosted Cancer Research UK’s coffers by approximately £220,000.

Like in previous years, the relay was kicked off by a ‘lap of honour’, undertaken by cancer survivors, with around 60 taking part this time around. Fifteen-year-old Eleanor Driver, of Rising Bridge, had her head shaved for the cause and the singing talents of cancer survivor Jenny Holland and Rossendale Ladies Choir kept entrants’ spirits up, with performances later by Colin Barklay and Friends and Slightly Unplugged, as part of a relay fun day.

Funfair rides were also laid on for youngsters, alongside owls from the North Wales Bird Trust, face painting, water walkers, bouncy castles and a Rawtenstall fire engine to explore.