Australians Step Up for Camp Quality’s Big Walk for Little Kids

Camp Quality is calling on Australians to lace up their sneakers this September and take part in Big Walk for Little Kids to raise funds for kids facing cancer. 

Now in its sixth year, Big Walk for Little Kids, proudly supported by ALDI, invites people of all ages and abilities to walk 25km, 50km, or 100km throughout September to support children impacted by cancer.
Funds raised help provide Camp Quality’s supportive programs and services, like Kids’ Camps, Family Camps and Family Retreats, which give kids and families facing cancer a vital break from hospital stays, treatment, and stress.

For families like Tilly’s, a break from cancer treatment means everything. Three-year-old Queensland girl, Tilly, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) at the age of two, turning life upside down for her parents Tammy and Michael and sisters Skyler and Eloise.

“We were just petrified that she was going to die,” recalls mum, Tammy. “You don’t fully understand until weeks later when you look back and go, ‘Oh my gosh, my kid has cancer.’”
Tilly endured months of brutal chemotherapy, surgeries, blood transfusions, infections, and endless hospital stays. Through Camp Quality, the family found some much-needed light during a dark time.

“The Camp Quality puppets came to visit in hospital and Tilly loved them. Then we went on a Family Camp, and it was amazing. Everyone there has been through the same thing. Everyone just gets it.”
In May this year, Camp Quality’s Family Retreats program gave the family their first holiday together since Tilly’s diagnosis — an unforgettable trip to Airlie Beach.

“Spending those few days away as a normal family was amazing, and we will forever be grateful for the memories.”

Now, determined to give back, Tilly and her family will be stepping up and participating in Big Walk for Little Kids this year.

“We know firsthand how much of a difference Camp Quality makes. This is our way of helping other families going through what we’ve been through.”

Camp Quality CEO Deborah Thomas says: “Big Walk for Little Kids is the moment for all Australians to walk beside children on the cancer journey and show their support for families going through the unthinkable reality of a cancer diagnosis.”

“Everyone knows someone impacted by cancer. Big Walk for Little Kids raises money to give those kids and their families a vital break from cancer on our Family Camps, Kids’ Camps and Family Retreats. Camp Quality supports kids going through trauma of a cancer diagnosis, but we can’t do it without the help of everyday Australians like our amazing Big Walkers. Every kilometre walked, every dollar raised, helps provide kids with cancer the chance to simply be kids again.”

Big Walk for Little Kids is suitable for all fitness levels, with participants choosing a walking goal that suits them, whether it’s around their neighbourhood, at the gym, or even with their four-legged friends.
Camp Quality’s Big Walk for Little Kids is in its sixth year and has so far raised over $8 million to give families a break from cancer.

Learn more about Big Walk for Little Kids.