Olivia
Newton-John
The Age reports
Residents in Heidelberg and Ivanhoe will be doing double-takes at their front gates when Olivia Newton-John leads a 4-kilometre walk through local streets.
On Sunday September 15, the star of Grease will lead her first
charity walk in Australia, to raise money for her Olivia Newton-John Cancer and
Wellness Centre.
She is inviting the public to walk with her from the shops in Upper
Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe, to the cancer centre at the Austin Hospital near
Heidelberg station, then back to Ivanhoe, where there will be a street party.
Ivanhoe traders are jubilant after failing for five years to lure
Newton-John to appear at their annual street festival in May.
Instead Newton-John will lead the Wellness Walk, in which participants
will pay up to $30 to enter and can also be sponsored.
"We are very, very, excited to be a partner in this," said
Ivanhoe Traders Association spokesman Stavros Zikou.
"I think everyone's in shock about the fact Olivia is not only
coming to our shopping centre, but how big this event is going to be."
Helena Mikletic, owner of Issa gift shop in Ivanhoe, who was 11 when Grease
came out and used to mime to the music, said: "I'm just thrilled. I think
it's wonderful. It's exciting for me personally. I'm a big fan of Olivia's and
always have been."
"I've always wanted to meet her. I think she has a lot of fans in
Ivanhoe, particularly because of the association with the new cancer
centre."
Speaking to Fairfax Media from Los Angeles, Newton-John said the route
was yet to be confirmed but it would start at 11am. At the finish, she may, or
may not, perform. There would be celebrity appearances and a yoga class.
She said if anyone was surprised to see her walking down their street,
"I'm hoping they'll join in the walk. It will be like the Pied Piper".
She said it was fine if people on the walk wanted to talk to her but it
wasn't a fan fest. "People should take part because I think everybody in
the world is touched by cancer in some way, a family member; a friend, or a
friend of a friend."
It would be a lot less strenuous than her 228km, 21 day, trek along the
Great Wall of China in 2008. That walk, which raised $2 million for the cancer
centre, featured a portable toilet, extreme weather and excruciatingly steep
paths.
"That Wall is unbelievable, it's kind of straight up, so after the
first day you don't know how you're ever going to walk again.""
On September 20 Newton-John will open the second and final stage of the
Cancer and Wellness Centre, including two new inpatient wards, a palliative
care ward named after her late mother, Irene Newton-John, and two new research
floors.
The building aspect is paid-for by the government but money from the
Wellness Walk would go towards the $1 million needed each year to run the
Centre's programs such as yoga, counselling, nutrition, art therapy and
massage.
She said walks were great fundraisers because they were social, healthy
and didn't require dressing up.
She hopes it will be an annual event. One day she wants to do a walk in
Australia on the scale of the Great Wall walk. "It's my dream. We'll make
happen one day."
To register for the Wellness Walk, go to www.oliviaappeal.com.
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