Today, October 19th, is World Breast Cancer Day - here in Adeje we gathered on the steps of the Town Hall with survivors, with campaigners, with members of the Adeje council and public who work to keep awareness of breast cancer and funding for research to the fore.
This year was different too for fundraising. The Walk for Life foundation rose to the RACE FOR THE CURE challenge, the Europe- wide digital event that brought together individuals and groups to fight together against breast cancer. Given that no events with large attendances were allowed in 2020 or 2021 these two years were different but the European movement continued to work to raise funds to continue the foundation’s work to improve the quality of life of over 500,000 women and men who are diagnosed annually with breast
cancer.
Since registration opened in July until October 10th the Walk for Life Foundation received support from many institutions, businesses, sports organisations, cultural
associations, as well as volunteers from many walks of life, with over 2,500 registered participants, whose activities and donations raised €23,000. Of the 32
countries in the Think Pink Europe movement, Spain was 4th this year in terms of numbers registered and had one of the greatest impacts in social networks and
general media presence.
For the Walk for Life president, Brigitte Gypen, “it is emotional to see how many people – those I know, those I don’t, families, institutions, companies, clubs,
throughout Spain - how we come together and showed the over-130,000 women and men in this country who are diagnosed annually with breast cancer that we
stand with them”.
Participants all over the country, from their homes and towns, filled social media with photos and videos of themselves walking, running, being active for this
solidarity cause, helping those affected and their families. The challenge for the Foundation, being the only organising body for Spain for this digital event, was to
gather as many registrations as they could, and with the help of bodies such as the Tenerife Cabildo and the Adeje and Arona councils, as well as those many
organisations who created their teams, they exceeded expectations.
The Walk for Life foundation, who have been behind this movement for the last 16 years, will see that the monies raised go directly to the areas needed to maintain
information programmes, assistance for patients and families and research into reducing the health and personal damage breast cancer does.
