Madeleine is Walking 100K for CoppaFeel!

This June, I will set out on an extraordinary, challenging and life-changing trek, all in the name of checking chests! Along with Gi Fletcher and some other famous faces, I will be trekking approximately 100km across 5 days in the Brecon Beacons, in a bid to raise funds towards CoppaFeel!’s life-saving mission. CoppaFeel! Is a breast cancer awareness charity, on a mission to educate and remind people to get to know their bodies in order to catch breast cancer early.

The charity was born after its founder Kris Hallenga was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer at the age of 22. Kris was unaware that breast cancer could affect people in their twenties and knew very little about the disease. It struck her that there was very little information out there for young people, educating them about the disease, how they could be looking after themselves and informing them that breast cancer doesn’t just affect women over 50.

Although Kris will always live with cancer, she wanted to get the message out there to young people that catching cancer early means you have a higher chance of surviving and recovering. She wanted people to learn from her story and become proactive about their own health. The idea for CoppaFeel! was born.

I met Kris back in 2011 when she came to do a talk with some young volunteers at a youth charity that I was managing at the time. I was struck by her passion and energy and despite clearly going through something huge in her life she was determined to do something positive with it!

In June 2023 my sister-in-law, Livvy was diagnosed with Grade HER2 Positive breast cancer.  She had only just started her maternity leave with her son and thought she was about to embark on a very exciting year ahead becoming a mother…but 4 months in she found a lump and her world was turned upside down. Luckily her diagnosis was caught early and treatment began quickly – she’s had a full on year of chemo, many hospital visits and most recently surgery – so not the year she envisaged having with her son. Seeing someone go through cancer treatment is really hard and all you want to do is take it away for them.

I’ve known about the CoppaFeel! Charity treks for a while, so when I saw that they were advertising another one for this year I knew I had to apply.  I was so excited to hear at the beginning of the year that I had been accepted and will be joining over 100 other women to walk 100K in the Brecon Beacons. Livvy has been my drive and motivation, every step I take on the trek will be with her in mind, telling the big C to go away!