Walk the Walk makes a £150,000 grant to Penny Brohn UK

In the grounds of Penny Brohn UK's headquarters at Ham Green, Bristol

Walk the Walk is thrilled to be making another grant to our friends at the cancer support charity Penny Brohn UK – and it’s all thanks to you, our wonderful supporters. 

The award of £150,000 will help Penny Brohn relaunch in-person retreats, wellbeing days and complimentary therapy sessions for people with cancer, at its beautiful headquarters at Ham Green, Bristol. These sessions were suspended during the pandemic, with the charity moving its entire programme of support services online.

Andrew Hufford, CEO of Penny Brohn UK takes up the story: “After successfully switching to online-only services during the pandemic, we’ve been trying hard to restart in-person services at our centre in Bristol, so we can offer a truly hybrid service for people with cancer at Penny Brohn UK. Like many small charities, our capacity and finances have made this challenging, so it is incredible to be supported by Walk the Walk with a grant that will allow our in-person services to relaunch later this year. Nina and everyone at Walk the Walk have supported Penny Brohn UK for many years and we are so grateful.”

Penny Brohn’s fantastic in-person support sessions will help so many people with cancer across the UK and their families.

Resilience retreats are short residential courses, providing uplifting group sessions and personalised on-to-one support for people living with cancer.

During well-being days, Penny Brohn offers those living with cancer expert advice on exercise, diet and ways to relieve stress and anxiety

The complimentary therapies provided by Penny Brohn will include scarwork (a gentle approach to alleviating the physical and emotional impact of scar damage following surgery); acupuncture and counselling

Attendees at a pilot Penny Brohn UK retreat

Diane from Birmingham attended a recent pilot session: “I was very fortunate to be invited to a fabulous wellbeing retreat at Penny Brohn UK. The retreat provided myself and my husband an opportunity to get away, relax, think, and breathe. We were both able to connect and talk to likeminded people in similar situations without judgement or explanations, who just understood what we had been through and continue to live with. The whole weekend was so relaxed, providing a balance of information, time to think and process and plenty of laughs. We both came away feel much lighter and more equipped to move forward living with cancer, knowing we have the support of Penny Brohn UK. Words really can't describe how much the retreat benefitted both myself and my husband.”

Nina Barough CBE, Founder and Chief Executive of breast cancer charity Walk the Walk said: “The past three years have been incredibly tough for everyone and like many charities offering emotional and physical care, Penny Brohn UK have had to become skilled at offering their services through online and digital means. Indeed, Walk the Walk has previously provided funds to help them achieve this. Whilst digital services now have their place and have enabled Penny Brohn to reach so many more cancer patients across the UK, nothing can quite replace the value of face-to-face support. We are just so thrilled to be able to help Penny Brohn bring this personal care back into operational service, as it is needed now more than ever. There is still time to join us at The MoonWalk London 2023 on Saturday 20th May – sign up now at walkthewalk.org and help us to continue making a difference.”

Sign up now for The MoonWalk London 2023 and help Walk the Walk continue to make a difference.