Retirees organise walk-a-thon for cancer support: ‘Creaky Knees’ team with Choc to raise funds

A group of dedicated women from the walking group, Creaky Knees, recently laced up their sneakers for a cause close to their hearts — a spirited walk-a-thon aimed at raising funds for the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa (Choc) East London branch.

The group participated in a walk-a-thon from Life Hospital in Beacon Bay to the Choc House in Edge Road on Thursday morning, as part of their efforts to raise awareness for childhood cancer during October.

The group partnered with residents of Settler’s Retirement Village and collected six trolleys full of food and groceries that staff at Choc could use to make food parcels to send home with their young patients receiving chemotherapy treatment for childhood cancer.

They also managed to raise R1,000 in cash donations to assist Choc in their support programmes for childhood cancer.

Creaky Knees’ co-founding member, Caroline Selkirk, said the group was committed to supporting the work done to support and advance research into cancer care, given that many of the Creaky Knee’s members are survivors of breast cancer or have lost loved ones to other forms of cancer, including childhood cancer, honoured nationally during October.

Choc Eastern Cape regional manager Juliet Houghton said: “We are hugely grateful to all who walked and pushed trolleys full of groceries to our Choc East London house. The donation of food will help us to feed the children nutritious meals, and the funds donated will be used towards the other running costs at our Choc House.

“We truly appreciate their support as we rely 100% on donations to fund our work,” Houghton said.

Creaky Knees was started in 2017 with only five members and has since grown to 124 members who walk different routes in and around East London every Thursday. The group is mainly made up of retired and semi-retired people who enjoy walking. The group allows members to walk safely as it is a lot safer than walking alone.

Selkirk said: “The main purpose of our group, apart from walking and keeping fit, is to enable people who might feel isolated or lonely in their later years, to interact with others and to enjoy the outdoors together.

“Our support for Choc and Breath of Life (which we supported before Covid-19) has grown from this,” she said.

The ladies’ group at Gonubie Presbyterian Chuch contributed towards the walk-a-thon, with donations of knitted blankets, slippers and soft caps, also referred to as ‘chemo caps’, for the little patients

CHARITY WALK: Members of the Creaky Knees participated in a walk-a-thon to raise funds for the Childhood Cancer Foundation (Choc) in East London. Picture: SUPPLIED

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