Abbie gets Activ raising money for Prostate Cymru

The Activ Absence team is proud to announce that our latest recruit, Sales & Marketing Co-Ordinator Abbie Williams, took part in last weekend's 'The Big Walk' - a gruelling 30 mile walk to raise money for Prostate Cymru.

Prostate Cymru is one of the leading charities in wales in the fight against all prostate diseases, benign and malignant. Annually, UK prostate cancer claims 11,000 lives, with up to 32,000 new cases diagnosed. Prostate Cymru is committed to fighting this disease.

The Walk route, image courtesy of Prostate Cymru

The Big Walk was set up in 2014 in hopes of raising funds for prostate cancer sufferers; it’s the biggest charity walk in Wales.  The goals of the walk are to raise money and also to raise awareness and understanding - while funding the latest medical equipment and the training of healthcare professionals. The event is designed to encourage all levels of walkers to enjoy and finish the journey as one.

The first ever Big Walk happened in 2014 with only 60 people taking part, which is a small number compared to the 170 people who signed up to be a part of the walk on Saturday 13th June for the second year.

Abbie Williams and Hannah Baker before the walk

The walk is physically and mentally challenging, with the 2014 group taking 9 hours to walk from the Millennium Stadium (Gate 3) to Kenfig Hill RFC.

Last year Warren Gatland (Wales Head Coach) and Lloyd Peers (Ospreys Second Row) happily helped start the walk and this year the walkers were lucky enough to start inside the Millennium Stadium with Rhys Priestland and Gethin Jenkins present.

Abbie shared the walk with her sister Hollie and cousin Hannah Baker and friend Jade Lines. Abbie started the walk at 8:40am and crossed the finish line with her sister at 5:40pm meaning she took 9 hours to complete the walk.

An exhausted Abbie said: "The Big Walk was definitely one of the hardest mentally and physically challenges I have ever done in my life and I couldn’t have got through it without my friends and family walking with me keeping me going. I must also comment on how amazing the support was from support vans and first aiders who constantly cheered us on throughout the entire walk and never left anyone behind. Right now I don’t feel physically able to take part again next year but I would happily help in anyway to support the event and other walkers. It’s an indescribable feeling when you finally cross the finish line and I am so proud of each and every person who took part.”

Abbie's cousin Hannah, who also took part in the 2014 event, said: “It's a physical and mental challenge from start to finish but reaching the end was a massive feeling of achievement.”

A whopping £9,000 was raised in 2014 surpassing everyone’s estimations and it has yet to be announced how much the 2015 event has raised. It has been said that “The big walk is not a race but a team event, were you can interact with new people from different parts of your community; this gives you an opportunity to help each other reach the finish line.”

Everyone in the Activ Absence and Codel Software teams is very proud of Abbie's achievement, and it isn't too late to donate, just contact Abbie by email: abbie.williams@codelsoftware.com or donate directly to http://www.prostatecymru.com/thebigwalk/