The goal is to stick 6000 awareness ribbons onto a car. Each is a tribute to someone whose life has been marked by cancer. All proceeds are going to organisations that support South Africans living with cancer.
Pretoria, South Africa (18 November 2025) – Five years ago, South Africa first met Billy Cowley. The upbeat Pretoria guy who broke a Guinness World Record by eating 420 grams of Marmite in one minute.
He wanted to make life more exciting after surviving a bout with melanoma skin cancer.
Today, Billy is facing the far tougher challenge of Stage 4 cancer.
True to his style, he’s still aiming to break records. And he’s turning the next one into something far bigger than a win. It’ll carry thousands of names and stories through small ribbons of hope for South Africans who are living with cancer.
On 6 December 2025 at Renault Silver Lakes in Pretoria, Billy and his small team will attempt to break the world record for the most awareness ribbons stuck onto a single car. The current record is 5637 ribbons. Their goal is 6000, each hand-written and dedicated to someone touched by cancer.
“This car will carry thousands of names, but it will also carry thousands of stories,” Billy says softly. “Each ribbon is a symbol of courage, love, and the fight against cancer.”
Billy isn’t doing it alone. His team is made up of people who understand cancer deeply and personally.
There’s Babette, a survivor whose joy fills up a room. There’s Anél Alexander, the actress who lost her husband to cancer and channels her grief into helping others. And there’s Kate Hayes, just nine years old, a brave survivor who proves that even the smallest spark can start a fire.
Each ribbon will be unique, as Guinness requires, and the public is invited to get involved by sponsoring ribbons for R30 each. Supporters are encouraged to submit a name they want written as a tribute to someone they or a loved one has lost to cancer.
All proceeds will support Pink Drive and Sungardens Hospice, two organisations working tirelessly to help South Africans living with cancer.
“This project is about far more than breaking a record,” says Billy. “It’s about giving people a place to remember, to celebrate, to heal. When we see that car – covered in colour, in names, in love – we’ll see what South Africa is capable of when we come together.”
To add your ribbon, follow this link.
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