Home   News   Article

Subscribe Now

Moonwalkers fulfill charity pledge





John Payne, Clare Lockhart, Sam Simpson and Katie Brown (pictured top right) completed the London Moonwalk - while wearing decorated bras- in May to raise over £5,500 for breast cancer research to make goof their promise to their friend Belinda Harding-Perry, who passed away earlier this year.
Mr Payne, who has lost relatives to cancer, spoke of how Belinda had made him promise to do the walk and how they had only one training session together before her cancer returned.
“She was a lovely girl who did loads of work for charity and putting the fun in fundraising was one of her favourite sayings,” Mr Payne said - while wearing his fundraising dress.
When it became clear that Belinda would not be able to take part in the walk, Mrs Lockhart and Mrs Brown stepped into her fundraising shoes.
“It has meant a great deal to Katie and I, to have been able to complete the Moon Walk for Belinda, to complete the fundraising that she had intended for it, but also for her family and closer friends, which we hope has given them as much of a feeling of continuing Belinda's legacy as it has for us,” Mrs Lockhart said.
“It has been extremely emotional of course also, as the reality of not having a best friend with you any longer is very difficult to grasp for many of us.”

The Moonwalk sees over 15,000 women and approxiamely 1,000 men - wearing decorated bras - take a nocturnal power walk 26 miles through London to raise funds and awarness for breast cancer.
Mr Payne and Mr Simpson completed the marathon in seven hours and 45 minutes while Mrs Lockhart and Mrs Brown finished the 14 mile walk in under five hours, despite the cold conditions.
The group even managed to get the MP for Newbury, Richard Benyon, to pose for a picture with Mr Payne in a dress and they intend to carry on fundraising in Belinda’s memory, with nervous discussions about riding Europe’s longest zip wire at Penrhyn Quarry, north Wales.
Also completing the Moonwalk were Carole Bailey and Nicky Wood (pictured bottom right), from Bucklebury and Newbury, who completed the walk in seven and half hours to raise £1,400 for charity.
“The atmosphere was superb and I am so grateful to everyone for their encouragement, support and generous donations. All the hard work, training, injuries and tears were worth it,” Mrs Wood said.
Over £3.5 million has been raised from the event so far and money is continuing to come in.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More