PRESS RELEASE Take positive steps this New Year for breast cancer

People of all ages from across the UK are taking the first step towards getting fitter this New Year, by signing up for iconic night-time fundraising event The MoonWalk London, organised by breast cancer charity Walk the Walk.

Thousands of women and men wearing brightly decorated bras will take on a full or half marathon walking challenge through the streets of London on Saturday 11^th May, to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

Apart from raising millions of pounds every year, the charity is also passionate about encouraging people of all ages to realise their own potential for good health and wellbeing by walking.

Many people are unaware that walking anywhere and at any pace counts towards our recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity. If the average person steps up the pace and commits to regular brisk power walks four times a week for 45 minutes a time, he or she will lose approximately 8kg (18lb) within a year, without changing his or her diet in any way.*

Emma Budge, 44, from Taunton,  lost weight and changed her life after discovering walking – often described as almost the perfect form of exercise. Diagnosed with breast cancer herself, just four days before her sister died from the disease, Emma needed a goal. Since she started walking, she hasn’t looked back.

Emma says: “Signing up for The MoonWalk really helped me focus on something other than myself as I had to wait for more results to know what my full diagnosis was. Then once I had started training, it became my life! It gave me some headspace and I decided to walk every other day – no matter what the weather. You just don’t know what the weather will be like on the night of The MoonWalk so it’s best to train in sun, wind and rain. Training for The MoonWalk had made me healthier, given me more energy and I lost a stone in weight!”

Nina Barough CBE, Founder and Chief Executive of Walk the Walk said:  

“As a New Year begins, so many people set themselves impossible diets and resolutions to lose weight, get fit, be healthier…. I just want to shout from the rooftops about the amazing benefits of walking! Power Walking has been recognised by scientists as almost the perfect form of exercise; it works the entire body, anyone can do it and walking regularly can help you maintain a healthy body weight, even without changing your diet. It is low impact and weight bearing, so good for bones, great for your heart, important in stress relief and mental health and did you know being active can help prevent disease too?  The benefits are enormous, plus walking is so accessible. Just step out of your front door and go! By signing up for a MoonWalk, it will help you to keep focused long after others have given up on their goals…start this year by Walking the Walk and you really can change your life!”

Entries are now open for the 22^nd MoonWalk London on Saturday 11^th May 2019. This year’s event has a fun theme of all things “Disco”! Walkers will be grooving on down to the Disco vibe in Walk the Walk’s huge pink tent on Clapham Common before setting off on their Half Moon or Full Moon challenge at Midnight.

Sign up now for The MoonWalk London 2019 at: www.walkthewalk.org

To download free to use photos, click here.

*Walking for Fitness, by Nina Barough. Published by Dorling Kindersley.

For more information and photographs, contact:

• Sally Orr at Walk the Walk.  [email protected]
• Jennifer Broh at Walk the Walk. [email protected]
• Claire Duncan at Walk the Walk. [email protected]

Notes to editors:

The MoonWalk London 2019

• Saturday 11th May 2019, Clapham Common
• Two walking challenges are available: Half Moon (13.1 + 2 miles) or Full Moon (26.2 miles)
• This year’s theme is “Disco Inferno”
• All participants must be aged 13 and over to take part
• The cost of entering the Half Moon and Full Moon is £49.50
• Walkers are asked to raise a minimum of £100 in sponsorship
• Entries are open at walkthewalk.org

 Walk the Walk

• Nina Barough CBE, Founder and Chief Executive, set up and now runs Walk the Walk Worldwide.  
• Walk the Walk specialises in fitness and Power Walking challenges. 
• HRH The Prince of Wales is the official Patron of Walk the Walk. 
• Walk the Walk has raised in excess of £127 million since 1996.
• As a grant-making charity, all funds are raised for Walk the Walk are then granted to where the charity feels they will do the most good.  
• Walk the Walk funds are granted to projects that not only support research, important to all our future health, but also support a variety of projects that are supporting cancer patients now throughout the UK. 
• To date grants have been made to charities and organisations throughout the UK including Breast Cancer Now, The Breast Cancer Haven, Penny Brohn UK and hundreds of NHS Hospitals and Trusts which are supplied with Scalp Cooling Systems. 
• The charity also has a Community Grant Fund which annually grants funds to smaller organisations working on the front line of cancer such as Helen Rollason Cancer Charity, Tenovus Cancer Care, The Christie, Cancer Kin, FACT and others, who have all received funds in the past enabling them to continue their work. 
• ‘The MoonWalk’ is the flagship event of the charity currently held in London, Scotland and Iceland.