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Prisoners at Edinburgh Walk for Breast Cancer
On Friday 6 June offenders at Edinburgh will walk for breast cancer. Pacing 6.5 miles around Edinburgh’s exercise yard, the women aim to raise money and awareness of breast cancer.
Edinburgh has, at the suggestion of an offender, organised the Lunar Walk for those women in custody. The event will see 38 offenders and several members of staff take up the challenge, with cakes made by offenders to also be sold at the event.
The event has been organised in conjunction with Walk the Walk, the charity responsible for organising successful events such as The MoonWalk Scotland. They will provide t-shirts for those taking part.
The walk has led to a general increase in awareness of breast cancer among the female population at Edinburgh, with the establishment’s Well Woman nurse running Breast Awareness Sessions for offenders.
Participants will aim to finish at 3pm. Upon completion they will be awarded medals which are provided by Walk the Walk. The medals will be awarded by Teresa Medhurst, Governor in Charge of Edinburgh and Nina Barough CBE, Founder and Chief Executive of Walk the Walk.
Commenting on the event, Nina Barough said: “It really feels that the whole of Scotland is uniting and doing their bit to raise awareness for The MoonWalk. It’s very special that the prisoners at HMP Edinburgh have felt inspired not only to walk, but to fundraise for Walk the Walk. And given their limited resources, we should all be incredibly proud of them.”
A keen supporter of the event, Teresa Medhurst added: “Everyone at Edinburgh is delighted to support Walk the Walk and we are extremely pleased that over thirty women and several staff have chosen to take part and raise funds for this worthy cause.”
“At Edinburgh we are always eager to raise awareness of women’s health issues amongst offenders. We hope the Lunar Walk will make more women in our care aware of the dangers of breast cancer and the need for regular screening.”
“We are also enormously thankful to Walk the Walk for their enthusiastic support of the Lunar Walk and we hope that it will lead to similar events at Edinburgh in the future.”