Hinderwell's England footballer Beth Mead captains national walking challenge for Ovarian Cancer Action
England footballer Beth Mead is captaining a national walking challenge for Ovarian Cancer Action in memory of her mum, June Mead.
June died of late-stage ovarian cancer in January 2023 and 28-year-old Beth, from Hinderwell, became an ambassador for the charity the following month.
Beth, who plays her club football for Arsenal ladies, is urging people across the country to join the Walk in Her Name challenge to support life-saving research for ovarian cancer.
The challenge involves walking 100KM during March, which is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
It encourages a coming together to celebrate the women with cancer and in memory of those who have sadly lost their lives.
This is the second year Beth has led the challenge but last year, she was unable to take part after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury which kept her out of the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
This year, she’ll be keeping track of her steps as she plays and trains for Arsenal.
Of her captaincy, Beth said: “I’m so excited to be the captain for Ovarian Cancer Action’s Walk in Her Name.
"Ovarian cancer is underfunded and overlooked, and the odds are against women surviving.
"We lost my mum due to lack of research breakthroughs, and we found out too late.
"I hope we can raise money through this event to ensure women have more time with their loved ones.
"I’m super proud to be doing this for my mum.”
The virtual challenge can be done at your own pace, or in teams and any steps you take during March count towards your total, whether a walk every day, or extra-long dog walks at the weekend.
Last year the event raised more than £200,000.
Ovarian cancer has the lowest survival rates amongst all five gynaelogical cancers, with just one in three women living more than 10 years after diagnosis.
Ovarian Cancer Action is working to transform survival rates so that by 2032 at least half of women with ovarian cancer live for 10 years.
The charity has invested more than £12.3m in life-saving research since 2006 and has the largest research centre dedicated to ovarian cancer research in Europe.
Visit https://ovarian.org.uk/walk-whitby to sign up to take part.