Horsham gift fair in aid of cancer charity is axed

Organisers of the Cancer Research Pink Gift Fair and Wellbeing event say it will no longer take place because of a lack of volunteers willing to help stage it.

The fair has raised more than £20,000 for cancer research over the past three years. This year alone, the fair raised around £7,000 for the Cancer Research UK Sussex laboratories that work to find cures for all 200 types of cancer.

Pink Gift Fair spokesman Sally Pavey said: “We thank everyone for their support in staging the event for the past three years and the money we have been able to raise, with your help, in beating cancer sooner.

“Sadly it is due to the lack of volunteers willing to organise and help at the event as well as the fact that although the event was held at the council’s offices for the past two years it was not included in the Americana marketing this year, which takes place the same weekend.

“We simply can’t compete in increasing our footfall of visitors to the event to meet the overheads of hiring the venue and the cost of promoting the event.”

She said she and colleagues would be “looking to stage other events to continue our efforts to beat cancer sooner and support our local Sussex research laboratory in the amazing work they do in discovering new treatments that enable sufferers to fight against this terrible disease.”