Friday July 25th 2025
Natalia Borwick on the left and her Marta Borwick on the right, along with their older sister Ania, aswell as Natalia and Marta's children
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Gorebridge local, Natalia Borwick, is taking on the 26.2 mile Full Moon Walking Challenge to support breast cancer charity Walk the Walk, organisers of The MoonWalk Scotland, after her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer early this year.
The MoonWalk Scotland is a yearly charity event where women and men wear brightly decorated bras or colourful bra t-shirts and walk marathon’s through the streets of Edinburgh overnight. After 19-years, this year’s MoonWalk will be the last taking place in Edinburgh, before the event goes on tour to a new city.
Natalia Borwick, 31, is walking the overnight marathon as part of the events Full Moon Challenge this September 6th, to support her sister who was diagnosed with breast cancer and raise funds for Walk the Walk.
Having a close bond with her sister, Natalia wanted to do something special to show support, explaining, “I’m taking on the Full Moon 26.2 miles at this year’s MoonWalk Scotland, after my older sister Marta was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year at the age of just 44. Marta is my absolute rock and I wanted to give something back.”
“I can’t wait to take part in The MoonWalk Scotland this September. I wanted to do something to support my sister, but knew my limitations and couldn’t have done something like a bungee jump to raise money. But walking – that I can do!”
Marta, 44, was diagnosed with breast cancer early this year after a visit to her GP after finding some bleeding on her breast. Her diagnosis came out of the blue and with no history at all of breast cancer in her family, the GP thought she had an infection due to there being no noticeable lump. Despite this, she was sent for further tests where she received a phone call asking her to go back to hospital and to take a family member with her.
Natalia explained, “It was at this point that she started to realise something was wrong. Marta was told that she was told that she had an aggressive type of breast cancer. Her initial reaction was that she was dying. However, while her type of cancer was fast growing, the positive news was that it had been discovered early and was very treatable.”
The first stage of Martha’s treatment was surgery to remove the cancer. Thankfully, her post-operation results showed no sign of cancer in any of her lymph nodes. This was followed by a period of chemotherapy, still having chemo injections for several more months as well as radiotherapy.
“The doctors want to make absolutely sure that they’re getting rid of all the cancer cells in her body, which is why she’s facing quite a bit more treatment. She totally understands that it’s necessary and says she’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Natalia and Marta, despite being several years apart, are very close and keep in touch and help each other as much as they can. Martha lives in Dublin, which made the situation more challenging for her and her family when she got diagnosed with Natalia explaining that it wasn’t as easy for her to help in practical ways.
After Marta benefitted from the support of cancer charities, Natalia decided that she wanted to give back.
She explained, “It’s very painful for me to watch what my sister is going through each week. Normally she is my rock and my go to person! I just want to give something back, as I know she’s really benefited from the help of cancer support charities throughout her treatment. I am not the one going through chemo, radiotherapy, surgery, and hair loss, but I want to contribute to this community of which she has become a part of.”
She chose to show her support by taking part in this year’s MoonWalk Scotland.
The Edinburgh MoonWalk is a part of breast cancer charity, Walk the Walk. The charity came into being in 1996 when founder, Nina Barough, led a group of 13 women who power walked the New York City Marathon in their bras to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. A couple of weeks later Nina herself was diagnosed with breast cancer but continued to power walk to remain positive. What started out as a one-off fundraising event has turned into a multi-million pound support charity raising £145 million to date.
This year’s MoonWalk Scotland is the last in Edinburgh. After the yearly event has taken place in the capital for the last 19-years, it is moving and going on tour in a different city.
The MoonWalk was the first fundraising event that came to Natalia’s mind when planning how to support Marta after having memories from when she was younger of people walking through the streets at night in their bras.
“The MoonWalk has always been a very big thing in Edinburgh and everyone talks about it. When I was younger, I used to see people in bras walking through the streets at night and wondered what it was all about”, she explained, “So, when I was thinking about doing something for charity after my sister was diagnosed, The MoonWalk was the first thing which came to mind.”
This year’s MoonWalk is on Saturday 6th of September and will see hundreds of people walk through Edinburgh’s dark streets sporting bright and colourful bras and bra t-shirts.
Natalia is taking a big step towards showing support for Marta and Walk the Walk, never taking on a marathon before, she said “I’ve never taken on anything like a marathon before – walking or running. I know that Edinburgh is quite hilly, but I’m hoping I’ll be fine. Raising funds for vital cancer causes and raising awareness of the signs of breast cancer is so important and that will be really driving me.”
With around 800 people who took part last year, this year’s MoonWalk is set to be a large fundraising event. Walk the Walk aims to raise awareness, as well as funds for cancer prevention, research and care, being passionate about encouraging women and men to become fitter and healthier and to take control of their well-being.
“If you notice any changes to your breasts, it’s so important to get them checked out. Especially when you’re young, it really isn’t a case of being paranoid. It might turn out to be nothing, but if it does turn out to be breast cancer, the quicker it’s diagnosed and treated the better”.
To sign up for The MoonWalk Scotland 2025, go to www.walkthewalk.org
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