OVER €150,000 RAISED FOR THE NATIONAL BREAST CANCER RESEARCH INSTITUTE FROM RACE IN PINK EVENT

The National Breast Cancer Research Institute together with Galway Racecourse are today delighted to announce that their recent ‘Race in Pink’ fundraising day hosted at Ballybrit on Sunday 27^th October, together with the ‘Win a BMW’ car raffle that occurred on the day raised a staggering €150,997 for the charity, a fitting way to end the year for all involved. This was the second year of the event at Galway Racecourse.

The National Breast Cancer Research Institute is an Irish charity that raises funds in support of the breast cancer research team lead by Professor Michael Kerin based at the Lambe Institute, NUI Galway. The support of local and national business and the huge amount of people who came to the event ensured this was one of the most successful fundraising events. 

Commenting on the money raised for the charity by the ‘Race in Pink’ event, Michael Moloney, Manager of Galway Racecourse said “the generosity and support the event received was phenomenal. The day was hugely supported by businesses and hundreds of guests that supported the hospitality lunch on the day. People came from all over Ireland came to support it. By partnering with the National Breast Cancer Research Institute, we are supporting a research team who are successfully working on improving breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. We had a great day that raised a large sum of money for such a worthy organisation. Well done to all involved, a great way to end the racing year for us too here at Galway Racecourse”.

The BMW car raffle was a huge success this year, with tickets in huge demand at just €20. Philip Duffy, Director of The National Breast Cancer Research Institute and coordinator of this fundraising car initiative said, “when we came up with the idea of raffling off a BMW we were a little apprehensive as it was our first big raffle to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research. However, it was a huge hit. We can’t thank everybody enough for their enormous generosity and support. Tickets were sold at the Galway races, The National Ploughing Championships and online. The BMW Raffle was a great success and can’t wait to choose the next raffle item. Watch this space”.

Director of Research Professor Michael Kerin said “I am very grateful for all the support we received – those who sponsored races, took tables, our wonderful Board and the ‘Race in Pink’ Committee.  Galway is a great City to live and work in and the recent accolades in Lonely Planet and the upcoming European City of Culture places us at the epicentre of tourism and culture in the West of Ireland.  The Galway Race Committee who has overseen the development of this iconic Race venue has enhanced our city and region. Breast cancer is a very common disease and research has led to better outcomes, both in survival and improved quality of life.  We still have a long way to go to fight this disease and our research programme focuses on biomarkers which can lead to more focused and personalised diagnosis and treatment, genes which could be used to identify risk and better imaging and diagnostic techniques.  Your support allows us to fund major research programmes in our laboratory"

For more information on the work being carried out by The National Breast Cancer Research Institute visit their website at www.breastcancerresearch.com