BurJuman's Safe & Sound campaign, the leading and most extensive Breast Cancer Awareness Programme in the Middle East, urges UAE residents to join in the drive to raise breast cancer awareness by participating in the "Safe & Sound Pink Walkathon" – an annual walkathon that has proven to be the campaign's most popular initiative in its year-long calendar of events.
The Pink Walkathon is an annual charitable, non-competitive event aimed at raising both awareness and funds for breast cancer. Last year saw close to 8000 women, men and children participate in the easy 3.6km walk – more than a ten-fold increase compared to the 700 people who participated in the inaugural event six years ago. This year's October campaign is supported by the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE) as the new strategic partner as well as Dubai Chamber, Medsol, Sketchers, Tokyo Marine and uniCare as key sponsors. Water for participants of the walkathon will be provided by Masafi.
To register for this year's walk prior to 29th October, individuals can either visit the information counters at BurJuman or simply register on the Walk day from 7:00 am onwards at the dedicated registration area. To make the process even quicker and easier, the registration form can also be downloaded for completion at www.safeandsound.ae and presented at registration. The Walk commences at 8 am.
The registration fee for the 'Pink Walkathon' will be donated entirely towards the Safe and Sound Campaign, and utilized towards supporting free mammograms, patient care and further awareness. The registration fee is AED50 for adults and AED 30 for children between the ages of 8-12. Children below the age of 8 can join the walk free of charge. All fund collection and usage is monitored by Red Crescent.
Each registrant will receive special Safe and Sound T-shirts and caps (sizes depend on stock availability) to demonstrate the unified goal of the event. As with previous editions, the program will feature several entertaining performances and events that involve the broader community such as after-walk live jazz performance, breakfast offers from various food outlets, free drumming with Dubai Drums and the Pink Bazaar.
As a special musical treat for all participants of this year's walk, Safe and Sound has invited Rob Idol, UK's number one 'Robbie Williams' tribute artist who has performed well over 1000 shows to an audience of over 2 million people throughout his career. He is now also a part of the upcoming 'Take That' tour. Taking the stage at 7:30am on the walk day, Rob Idol will be performing all of Robbie's chart hits such as 'Angels', 'Let me entertain you', 'Eternity' and many more.
A free arts and crafts corner, roaming entertainers, close up magicians and free face painting will be on hand to amuse the walkathon's younger participants.
"The Pink Walkathon serves as a visual reminder of what the whole campaign is about – being proactive, supportive and spreading the message that "early detection saves lives". We are once again looking forward to enthusiastic participants joining us to spread the word and to showcase the tremendous support this campaign enjoys. The steady increase in participant numbers serves as a very strong indicator that we are succeeding in widening our outreach and taking our message to a greater number of people each year," says Sabina Khandwani, Spokesperson of Safe and Sound and Head of PR and Marketing at BurJuman.
Roberta Rees, breast cancer survivor and strong supporter of the Safe and Sound campaign will be participating for the third consecutive year: "I'm more than happy to participate for the third time. It means a lot to me to live in a city where institutions and companies such as BurJuman promote and support such an important event. It shows that the community cares about the topic and is willing to extend its help and support. I congratulate Safe and Sound on their wonderful work all through the years to raise awareness on breast cancer."
