By Victoria Stone-Meadows
A Narre Warren South woman will be walking 200 kilometres over 10 days to raise money for research into all different types of cancer.
Janet Halsall has been raising money for the Cancer Council through the Relay for Life for almost 10 years, but has decided to do something a little different.
Each day of the walk will be devoted to a different type of cancer, and Ms Halsall is hoping to raise about $30,000 for cancer research.
Ms Halsall decided to embark on this massive journey after being inspired by Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt.
“I joined Greg Hunt some years ago when he was doing a 500 kilometre walk around his electorate,” Ms Halsall said.
“He does that every few years for a different charity each time, and I went out and did that in 2015, I thought it was a great idea, a real bringing together of the community.”
Ms Halsall said she was a little over the hill to manage a 500 kilometre walk, and added 200 kilometres was a bit more realistic.
“I will be walking around the City of Casey, not exactly travelling sequentially,” she said.
“Each day there will be a community gathering and the location of the gathering determine where I end up at lunchtime each day.”
While the main focus of the walk is to fund-raise, Ms Halsall said there was also the aim of bringing the community together and sharing in each other’s experiences.
“The main idea is to catch up with the community along the way at those events to hear from others about cancer and weakness and treatments and looking for community donations,” she said.
The walk will take Ms Halsall to 25 suburbs in Casey from Cranbourne South to Lysterfield, and she hoped people would join her along the way.
Janet Halsall’s Casey Walk for a Cure will begin on Saturday 8 April at the Old Cheese Factory in Berwick, and will finish on Monday 17 April at the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens.
Anyone who wants to find out more or to donate to the cause can visit ‘Casey Walk for a Cure’ on Facebook.
