30 August 2018

A charity team are set to tackle the daunting Striding Edge challenge to raise money and help continue the fight against mouth cancer in the UK.

On Saturday 15 September, volunteers from Dental Health Spa, the Oral Health Foundation, Swiss Dental Academy, TePe and others, will be supporting the Moveit4smiles charity initiative by taking on the intimidating challenge in the Lake District.

Moveit4smiles is an oral health group made up of volunteers from across dentistry. The aim is to get active while raising money to help raise awareness of mouth cancer.

Funds raised by the team will be donated to Mouth Cancer Action and HPV Action.

Moveit4smiles spokesperson, Christina Chatfield, spoke about the challenge ahead of the team: “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.

“We are taking the Helvellyn route. The hike takes around six hours and will see us reach summits of more than 3,000 feet.

“All money raised goes to an excellent cause – to raise awareness about mouth cancer.

“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.

“Please think about supporting us with a donation. It could make all the difference and ultimately help save a life.”

Volunteers for Moveit4smiles have previously completed an enormous 500-mile walk from Scotland to Brighton, a walking marathon on the South Downs and the Camino de Santiago pilgrims trail in Spain.

Last year, donations helped deliver mouth cancer information to more than six million people across waiting rooms, hospitals, shopping centres and workplaces across the country.

The group are also passionate about raising awareness about the human papillomavirus (HPV) – a sexually-transmitted virus which is soon expected to overtake smoking as the main cause of mouth cancer.

Last month, ministers from Scotland, Wales and England all announced that the current vaccination programme, offered to school girls, 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.

To support the Moveit4smiles team as they embark on the Striding Edge Challenge please click here.

Your chance to get involved

In 2019, Moveit4smiles is planning a further four incredible walking challenges.

Snowdonia in Wales, Bla Bheinn on the Isle of Skye and Suilven in North West Scotland are all confirmed with dates to be finalised soon.

If you would like to take part in these amazing activities, or simply register your interest in them, please visit our Moveit4smiles page and sign up with your details.