Abingdon through pink tinted glasses

Abingdon turned a healthy shade of pink on Saturday for Against Breast Cancer, a small research charity located on the town’s Science Park. Sunny weather gave a carnival atmosphere to the town’s Market Square and drew the crowds into Abingdon. The charity is seeking a vaccine against breast cancer and this was the first year Abingdon has held its own ‘Splash of Pink’ fundraising day, following Witney’s successful pink days.

Retailers turned their shop windows pink and were judged by CEO Patricia Leathem and her team for the effort they put in. Winners of the brand new ‘Splash of Pink’ silver trophy were Fabulous Flowers and runners up for excellent displays were Anya Hair, Badgers, Faulkner’s Photos, Honey Pot, Mason’s Crafts and Robert Stanley Opticians.

Two bellydancing troupes shimmied in the sunshine; Ashnah from Abingdon and Hazzaz from Witney whilst Tony Legge’s Abingdon Morris Men formed an impromptu morris dance around a couple who had just married and found themselves centre stage when walking through the Market Square. Abingdon’s firefighters brought their truck down to help fundraise and the Town Crier encouraged people to join in the fun.

Janice Day, a breast cancer survivor who once lived in Abingdon gave readings from her own book about the disease called ‘Getting It Off My Chest’ and signed books at Mostly Books. Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Fabia Cerra from Oxford ran a pink nail bar and Nandi Ablett from Long Wittenham painted children’s faces.

Against Breast Cancer’s Abingdon Action Group staged the ‘Splash of Pink’ day and Jemma Jones from the charity said “We cannot believe how successful our first year has been turning Abingdon pink. People gave their time generously to support the event and we’ve had so many wonderful donations. Many wore pink too! So far we have raised almost £2,400, with more to come. We found it very touching to hear how many people had been affected by breast cancer, either themselves or their family and friends. It confirmed how important it is that we continue the research we are doing to try to free future generations from the disease.”