Edinburgh MoonWalk: On their marks to put charity in the pink

Published on Saturday 12 June 2010 20:20

HUNDREDS OF pink lights, 10,000 walkers and a million different reasons for taking part. Next Saturday, Scotland's capital will be transformed for the fifth Edinburgh MoonWalk, organised by breast cancer charity Walk the Walk.

Walkers – mostly women but with a few hardy men – will set out at midnight from Inverleith Park to walk either the full moon marathon of 26.2 miles or the half moon marathon, dressed in wildly decorated bras. This year's walkers include a team from RAF Kinloss and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly.

The MoonWalk – Scotland on Sunday is proud to be the event's media sponsor – raises millions for cancer charities each year and has become an immensely popular event, with many walkers motivated by their own personal experiences with breast cancer.

The route will pass many iconic Edinburgh buildings including the Castle, Harvey Nichols, the National Galleries, the Royal Bank of Scotland, St Andrew's House and the National Monument, all of which will be lit up in pink for the event. The MoonWalk Edinburgh has raised more than 10 million to date, helping Walk the Walk make a tangible difference to the lives of cancer patients throughout Scotland.

In May, the Breast Cancer Institute at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh opened its refurbished breast cancer unit, thanks to grants from Walk the Walk and NHS Lothian. A further 1.5m has since been granted to equip the unit with a new operating theatre.

Maggie's, another beneficiary, has now started work building a second much-needed centre in Glasgow, with funding from Walk the Walk.

Although registration for the MoonWalk has now closed, organisers are still looking for volunteers to help on the night.

"I have taken part in both the MoonWalk Edinburgh and the MoonWalk London many times and no matter how much training you have done at times you can really find it tough and it is the amazing volunteers that keep you going," said Kelly. "They seem to know just what to do, a kind word of encouragement or a smile, it is enough to get you over the finish line."

PAM'S STORY

WHEN Pam Frame started planning her 50th birthday celebrations, she wanted to do something special.

"She wanted a challenge, something different to celebrate the big 5-0," says her friend, 48-year-old Jill Bladen. "She decided the MoonWalk, which is something she'd always wanted to do, would be perfect."

Before long, a team of seven women, ranging in age from 22 to 49 and all from Lenzie, near Glasgow, had been rounded up.

Although none of the women have suffered from breast cancer themselves, all are aware of the risks the illness presents. "It's always at the back of your mind," says Bladen. "There is an element of there but for the grace of God go we.

"We have friends who have been touched by it and everyone in our team knows somebody who's had cancer in one form or another."

Most of the women in the team are working mothers, and at times, fitting in the training has been a case of "running home, shoving the tea in the oven and slapping on the training kit to go out," as Bladen puts it. But the cause has kept all of the team members motivated.

"I think women our age are very clued up about it all, even if we're sometimes frightened to do a check for breast lumps because of what we might find. That's why we're so happy to support it."

If all goes well, Bladen hopes they can repeat the project in 2012. "I'd like to do the whole thing over again for my 50th and try the London MoonWalk," says Bladen. "It can be a new tradition."

JEMIE'S STORY

ON THE tiny Shetland island of Whalsay, population 1,034, eight members of the community are preparing to travel to Edinburgh next weekend to take part in the MoonWalk. They include the Tulloch family, 51-year-old fisherman Jemie, his wife Janette, also 51, and their 22-year-old daughter Angela, who is graduating from Napier University with a degree in interior architecture and design on the same weekend. On such a small isle, cancer has touched many of the inhabitants.

"Our next door neighbour's mother died of breast cancer a couple of years ago, my mother had breast cancer but survived it and we have another neighbour two doors down who's currently going through chemotherapy," says Jemie. "Because we're such a small population, everyone knows everyone else here – it's just like a big family so if anything does happen it touches you a lot more than it perhaps does in bigger communities."

Jemie, who was treated for testicular cancer himself ten years ago and has since recovered, says the island's remoteness provides a strong support network if someone is in need."

Although islanders such as those on Whalsay often have to travel far for treatment, last year, Walk the Walk granted funding to Maggie's to develop an online centre to help support and advise cancer sufferers and their families in the remotest parts of Scotland.

"We're all connected here," says Jemie. "That's why we decided to do the walk."

KAREN'S STORY

WHEN Sergeant Karen Price called a meeting at RAF Kinloss in January to find out if anyone on the air base would be keen to participate in this year's MoonWalk, reaction was mixed.

"People were interested, but some said that since they didn't know anyone with breast cancer, they weren't sure if it was for them," says the 39-year-old.

All that changed just two months later when one of the members of the RAF team, Sarah Carroll, an MoD employee on the base, was diagnosed with the disease.

"It affected the whole team," says Price. "Nobody could understand why it happened to Sarah, who is only 38 years old and extremely fit and healthy. But it just spurred us all on to do it even more."

While the rest of the team – which includes an RAF flight lieutenant, three corporals and two senior aircraftswomen – started training in earnest, Carroll was undergoing a mastectomy before embarking on a gruelling round of chemotherapy. As she had to drop out of the MoonWalk team, her husband Tony, who also works on the base, signed up on her behalf.

"Sarah has remained strong and positive throughout," says Price. "A few of us recently did a walk that ended at Sarah's house, and she was able to provide us with a cup of tea and some homemade sticky cakes."

Price, whose own mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2009 and is currently recovering following a mastectomy, says the whole group is very focused on the day. "Our team is more determined than ever to succeed," says Price. "Sarah is our inspiration."