Calling Exeter to Walk All Over Cancer
WHAT started out as a challenge to get moving, lose weight and spend more time off the sofa, led to a month of self-discovery and 10,000 steps in 10 different parts of the country for Devon worker Andrea East.
Andrea from Exeter is now urging people to step up to Cancer Research UK’s latest fundraising challenge, Walk All Over Cancer.
The senior quality assurance and improvement officer for Devon County Council, took up the challenge herself in a bid to lose weight and in her own words – ‘to get moving again.’
After losing her dad six months ago, following a battle with bladder cancer and also her mum’s death from lung cancer six years ago, Andrea wanted to challenge herself and push herself more.
She explains: “I decided I was going to walk all over cancer and in doing so I learnt about the stars, about Rock Choir in Newton Abbot and I learnt that at 52 years of age with a thyroid problem and a dodgy angle, I can still walk nearly 128 miles in just one month.
“I have loved being outside every day and just taking that time to walk and breath.”
Andrea says she met many interesting people on her travels and is inviting men and women to sign up now and get sponsored to walk 10,000 steps every day throughout June, in support of the charity’s live-saving research.
She is urging people to follow her lead as she completed the 10,000 steps per day challenge in March and raised £200 for the charity.
“I learnt that I love being outside and walking has led me to all sorts of places. I started walking in Germany and covered a great deal of the South West of England, including Paignton, Lyme Regis, Brixham, most areas of Exeter.
While walking I met people I wouldn’t have otherwise met. “I think it is so important to raise awareness of early detection. Mum had a terrible cough for years and we didn’t take much notice of it.
She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in the October and died in the January. The cancer nurses were fantastic but there is so much we don’t understand about this terrible disease. “I wanted to do something to help raise money in support of Cancer Research UK, a charity that is very close to my heart.”
Alison Birkett, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for Devon, said: “People in Devon can step up to the same challenge this June. We know that 10,000 steps per day is quite a task but people can go at their own pace and encourage friends, family and colleagues to join in and help them crank up the foot miles. “Every stride taken and every donation made will help fund the charity’s ground-breaking research.”
"Not only will walking help to raise money, it also comes with many added health benefits. Moderate exercise can help build stamina, burn excess calories and protect against a range of diseases including cancer. Based on the average person’s strides, 10,000 steps equates to approximately five miles or eight kilometres per day and adopting small lifestyle changes can go a long way towards achieving the goal."
