Thousands raised for Cancer Research UK in special Salisbury polo match
Image source: SalisburyJournal
A SALISBURY polo club has helped raised thousands of pounds to tackle cancer.
Druids Lodge was approached by polo player Natasha Ball in the hopes of holding an event to raise money for Cancer Research UK, and highlight the Stand Up To Cancer campaign.
It comes after Natasha’s mum Vee, 58, had just finished treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer in April last year. She was told the news five years after losing her sister Svetlana to breast cancer, aged 62.
Horse-loving Natasha said: “When you are told someone close to you has cancer it’s devastating. You feel helpless.
“I decided to tackle that feeling by doing something positive to help people like my mum now and in the future and I came up with the idea of holding a polo match to raise money for vital research.”
When Natasha approached Druids Lodge in Salisbury, the club was fully supportive and the first ever Play For A Cure charity day took place.
Pimping their pins and donning bright orange tutus in defiance of the disease, they raised more than £3,000 for the cancer charity.
The event was held once again in September, raising £3,200.
Natasha added: “I know only too well the importance of research – my mum is here and is testament to that. It’s thanks to research that she’s still standing. That’s why we are supporting this vitally important campaign.”
Tasha and Vee are now encouraging everyone to dress up in a funny, unusual or unpredictable way to raise money for research.
Jenny Makin, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for the South East, said: “We are very grateful to Tasha and Vee for helping to raise awareness. There’s been amazing progress in the past few decades and more people are now surviving cancer than ever before. But with one in two of us in the UK set to develop the disease at some point in our lives, there’s still so much more to do.
“Supporting Stand Up To Cancer enables scientists to explore brave new ways to fight the disease and develop radical treatments, meaning more lives are saved.”
Since it was launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer has raised over £62 million to fund 52 pioneering clinical trials and research projects.
Source: SalisburyJournal