Charity team will conquer mountain to fundraise for mouth cancer

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 4 September 2018

share

save

RUGBY, UK: A charity team is set to tackle the daunting Striding Edge challenge to raise money and help continue the fight against mouth cancer in the UK. On 15 September, the group of volunteers from across dentistry will be supporting the Moveit4smiles charity initiative by taking on the intimidating challenge in the Lake District.

Moveit4smiles is an oral health initiative consisting of volunteers, including representatives from Dental Health Spa, the Oral Health Foundation, Swiss Dental Academy and TePe. The aim is to get active while raising money to help increase awareness of mouth cancer. The funds raised by the team will be donated to the Mouth Cancer Action Month campaign and HPV Action collaborative partnership.

Speaking about the challenge ahead of the team, Moveit4smiles spokesperson Christina Chatfield said, “At seven miles long, Striding Edge may not be the longest walk but with it has incredibly high levels of exposure on narrow rocky ridges, the journey will present big challenges for our team.” The team will take the route to Helvellyn, the third highest mountain in England, hiking for 6 hours and reaching summits of more than 900 m.

“All money raised goes to an excellent cause—to raise awareness about mouth cancer,” Chatfield said. “The number of people being diagnosed with mouth cancer is increasing, so there is a real need to get people thinking about the disease and what they can do to reduce their risk.”

Chatfield is calling for people to consider supporting the initiative with a donation. “It could make all the difference and ultimately help save a life.”

Volunteers for Moveit4smiles previously completed an enormous 800 km walk from Scotland to Brighton, a walking marathon on the South Downs and the Camino de Santiago pilgrim’s way in Spain. Last year, donations helped deliver mouth cancer information to more than six million people in waiting rooms, hospitals, shopping centres and workplaces across the UK.

The group is also passionate about raising awareness about the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus that is soon expected to overtake smoking as the main cause of mouth cancer. Only last month, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation announced that the current vaccination programme offered to schoolgirls would be extended to include boys. A portion of the money raised through the Striding Edge challenge will go towards educating teachers, parents and boys about the HPV vaccination.

Readers wishing to support the Moveit4smiles team as they embark on the Striding Edge challenge or to take part in one of several upcoming charity walks can visit www.dentalhealth.org.