Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres launched their Glasgow Night Hike event today (Thursday, 7 April) with top participants and fundraisers from last year’s event joining Kaye Adams for a special sneak peak of the event’s opening venue – the stunning new Riverside Transport Museum.

This will be the second outing for the Glasgow Night Hike, after last year’s inaugural event, which raised £110,000 for Maggie’s series of cancer caring centres across Scotland. The event was born out of the success of Maggie’s London Night Hike which has attracted over 7500 walkers and raised an amazing £2.9 million since 2005.

Maggie’s second Glasgow Night Hike will take place on Friday 22nd July, with participants embarking on a ten-mile walk around the city by night, gaining exclusive access to both iconic buildings and hidden gems around the city, with live entertainment along the way.

Kaye Adams, is a supporter of Maggie’s and jumped at the chance of getting involved with the Glasgow Night Hike, as it combines her love of walking and architecture. Kaye revealed the brand new 10mile route today: The new Riverside Transport Museum will be the opening party venue, just one month after it opens its doors to the public. And there is a great link between this year’s opening venue and Maggie’s Centres in that the renowned architect of the Riverside Museum, Zaha Hadid, gained her first UK commission by designing Maggie’s Fife.

Following the opening party, participants will then set off on their 10-mile hike, taking in the Glasgow Art Club and an entertaining tour through the sights of the Merchant City Festival, with special acts set to perform. The only venue that is staying the same for the second year running, is Maggie’s Glasgow Centre, which is the closing venue of the night, with participants treated to tea and cakes and the chance to see exactly where their fundraising is going. More venues and entertainment will be announced in the lead up to the event.

The funds raised from the Night Hike will help to fund Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres programme of free-of-charge emotional and practical support, helping people to build a life, with, through and beyond cancer.

Maggie’s Event Manager, Claire Benjamin, said: “We are really excited to launch our second ever Glasgow Night Hike with Kaye today. Glasgow is such a fabulous city, brimming with great architecture and culture, and our new night hike route very much reflects that, with fabulous buildings and entertainment on board. It’s a great fun alternative night out, and I would encourage groups of friends and family to sign up now. Your support helps us to continue to offer free emotional and practical support to people facing the devastating consequences of cancer.”

Glasgow Night Hike 2010 took place in September, with the Botanic Gardens, GoMA, Glasgow University, Trongate 103 and Maggie’s Glasgow as venues. This year’s event takes place earlier to take full advantage of the light nights and warmer weather. Maggie’s are hoping to smash the target raised at last year’s event.

Julie Buckley, from the southside of Glasgow, who uses Maggie’s Glasgow Centre, wrote the best short review of the event last year, which Maggie’s tweeted to all night hikers: “All the collective treasures of Glasgow’s art and architecture can’t compare with the stars on the Night Hike and the much needed support Maggie’s brings.”

Registration is open now at www.maggiescentres.org/glasgownighthike. Registration is £30 for Individuals and £23 for teams of four or more participants. You can register in teams of up to 12 online or call our dedicated Events Team to register over the phone on 0300 123 1801. We are asking all our amazing participants to raise £200 each to enable us to continue to open our doors to over 400 visitors a day and provide all our services for free.

Maggie’s Glasgow Centre, Western Infirmary, opened in Autumn 2002 – the second Maggie’s Centre, following on from the inaugural Edinburgh Centre. Glasgow will be the first city in the UK to have two Maggie's Centres, when the Rem Koolhaas designed centre at Gartnavel Hospital in Autumn of this year.


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For more press information, please contact, Tricia Crosbie, on 0141 341 5678.