SuperstylingUK

Moonwalkers a la Fruity Couture!

I’m SO excited. It’s just over a week before I do my first Moonwalk! At midnight next Saturday 16^th May, myself and 15,000 other magnificent bra-wearing walkers will be marching a half or full marathon through the streets of London. I’ve always wanted to do it, but this year so many of my dear friends have been affected by breast cancer that I’ve felt I have to take action and Walk The Walk!

This amazing event is now in it’s eighteenth year! I feel so inspired by Nina Barough CBE, Founder of Walk The Walk. Originally, Nina was also a fashion stylist (proving that all the best people are!) before a series of events made her change her path. She is now Chief Executive of a grant-making breast cancer charity that has collected nearly £100 million of fundraising – wow!

Founder & Chief Executive Nina Barough CBE of Walk The Walk with a very saucy man

So how did it all start? Well nearly twenty years ago, 13 women decided to power walk the New York Marathon in their bras to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. One of these ladies was Nina who ironically 2 months later discovered she actually had breast cancer and an aggressive tumour too. Nina’s life was thrown upside down, embarking on a programme of treatment that included a mastectomy and radiotherapy. Her girlfriends felt they desperately wanted to do something to help and spurred on by the ‘Girl Power’ era of the Spice Girls, they banded together, bra emblazoned and power walked the London Marathon. Fashion designers like Paul Smith and Mary Quant as well as other notables like Richard Branson were keen to get involved too. They designed the girls’ bras and these were then auctioned off at the first Walk The Walk Auction.

The following year a second team entered the London Marathon, half of them got places but the other half weren’t so lucky. Nina not wanting to disappoint and waste the girls’ hard work, fund raising and training, that she decided to organise a midnight marathon for these ladies. These bra clad night walkers would hand over the ‘baton’ in the morning in Trafalgar Square to the other official Marathon walkers. Nina and a girlfriend actually completed the night and day marathon in 24 hours and the Moonwalk was born!

Moonwalkers – Flower Power style

The rest is history and The Moonwalk has grown from strength to strength. Over 350,00 people have taken on a walk challenge, such as The Moonwalk New York City, now in its second year and The Arctic Marathon – a backcountry skiing challenge in deepest Lapland! The success of this charity is amazing. Walk The Walk has made grants to Breakthrough Breast Cancer and to Breast Cancer Campaign for its ground breaking Breast Cancer Tissue Bank. It is also committed to providing funding to hospitals across the UK to purchase Scalp Cooling Systems – special machines that help people retain their hair when undergoing chemotherapy. My lovely friend Sue had brilliant results with this treatment and said it was such a relief not to lose her hair. She felt she could still go out and socialise and most importantly it wasn’t such a scary experience for her 2 little girls as although they knew their Mum wasn’t very well they were reassured that she still looked the same!

Moonwalk Fashion – True Brit style

So all in all a brilliant charity…. I’m fundraising for my Moonwalk so please, please do sponsor me –

https://moonwalklondon2015.everydayhero.com/uk/becky-john

Now it’s all down to the outfit. Ever the fashion stylist I feel the pressure is on! As you can see, there have been some fabulously decorated bras over the years. The theme for Moonwalk 2015 is ”Saturday Night at The Movies”. So, rhinestone encrusted bra at the ready, I promise to bare all (well nearly all) in a post Moonwalk blogpost soon………

Myself and fellow walker Catherine Sloman aka blogger Battenburg Belle