A COMMUNITY event has raised thousands of pounds for a Goodwick mother-of-two who is battling cancer for the second time.

More than £6,000 was collected in support of Ria McGauley at a well-attended fun day at Fishguard rugby club, organised by Tanya Fenn, Jemma Fowler and Katherine Brace on Sunday, October 23.

Organisers say they were ‘overwhelmed’ by the generosity of locals who rallied to support Ria’s fund, and paid tribute to those who had contributed and taken part, including volunteers, Fishguard YFC and Fishguard and District Round Table.

Ria was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer at the end of August, after battling cancer five years ago while pregnant with her youngest child, and is currently undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments in a bid to keep the disease at bay.

Jemma Fowler described the fundraising day as ‘amazing’.

She said: “The community and beyond came together in a spectacular turn out.  

“We were honestly overwhelmed. We cannot thank those who have helped us enough. Our initial plan was just a fun run but it turned into so much more thanks to offers of catering, scratch card boards, discos.

"The amount of raffle prizes that were collected and donated from family and friends, businesses near and far was astonishing and so generous.”

The event included entertainment, live music, 5k and 10k fun run routes on terrain to suit all abilities, and an auction raised £1,400, while a raffled wall of scratch cards raised £1,000.

Katherine Brace said: "We wanted as many people to take part as possible. We gave medals out to each participant- it really was the icing on the cake seeing so many people, and especially the children, walking round proudly wearing their medal.”

Tanya added: “At the moment we've raised over £6,000 and people are still depositing money into the bank account.

“Ria is so overwhelmed by the generosity of our local community, and extremely grateful. Ria will need to move house, to a bungalow. And hopefully this money will help them to adapt it for her needs.”

Visit Ria’s Fun Day Fund on Facebook for more information and updates about the fund.