Galaxy Radio to host 69 hour broadcast in aid of Leicester Marrow

This week, Galaxy Radio will be hosting their ninth 69-hour broadcast in aid of Leicester Marrow – part of UK blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan. For this event, the station will broadcast constantly for just under three days with a huge range of creative and interesting content.

Last year, Galaxy Radio raised £930 for UK cancer charity Bloodwise, making 2017 the most successful year for the broadcast and winning the society Fundraising Group of the Year by the Student’s Union.

Student volunteering society Leicester Marrow supports Anthony Nolan, a charity dedicated to saving the lives of people with blood cancer, such as leukaemia, by matching them to people willing to donate their bone marrow or blood stem cells for lifesaving transplants.

Formed in 1997, Marrow is a student volunteering network in over 50 universities across the UK and has recruited over 85,000 potential donors for the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register.

Holly Gooch, President of Leicester Marrow at the University, said: “I got involved with Marrow because I wanted to create a legacy for a friend who died of Leukaemia. It’s in her name that I sign-up as many potential lifesavers as possible. If one of those people goes on to donate, although it won’t change the fact that she died, it may mean that, because of her loss, other people are able to live.

“We’re all so grateful that Galaxy Radio are doing their fundraising marathon in aid of Anthony Nolan. It costs roughly £60 to sign someone up to the Anthony Nolan register, and every person that is signed up is a potential lifesaver. Therefore, every penny raised goes towards giving someone a second chance at life, and we’re so thankful that the lovely people at Galaxy Radio are helping us get ever closer to being able to save everyone that needs a stem cell transplant.”

Henry Lavender, Station Manager of Galaxy Radio, said: “I am very excited to build on last year’s success with our upcoming marathon. We’ve really pulled out all the stops to make 2018 our best broadcast yet and raise as much money as possible for Anthony Nolan.

“We have partnered with diverse range of societies such as Anthony Nolan’s student partner Leicester Marrow, Sexpression and the University’s Theatre, Band & Gig and LGBT+ societies to mix up the broadcast and showcase their talents. In addition, members from Galaxy Radio will be adding to the selection on offer over the weekend with film quizzes, satirical panel shows plus eSports and music round-ups.

“Not only will we be live on radio, we’ll be available to watch on Facebook Live during the weekend to really see what we’ll get up to.”

In 2017, the University joined forces with The Rik Basra Leukaemia Campaign and Leicester Marrow for a Leicester Heroes event aiming to recruit hundreds of new potential donors to the Anthony Nolan stem cell register. The previous year's event saw 1,406 new potential donors added to the Anthony Nolan Stem Cell Register - a record breaking number of sign-ups from one drive.

• Galaxy Radio’s 69-Hour Marathon begins at 3pm on Friday 16th February and runs until 12pm Monday 19th February.
• You can listen to Galaxy Radio here: http://galaxymedia.org.uk/radio/