The young Bolwarra Heights girl was a mere toddler when she embarked on her first Friends of Palliative Care Walk-a-thon and now, eight years later, she’s still going strong.

“The walk-a-thon is a pretty big deal in our family and every year we do it together and now I love it,” Matilda, 11, said.

Matilda was only three years old when her mother, Karen, 38, died of cancer in 2000.

“I was too young to remember my first walk-a-thon but over the years I’ve made a lot of friends and it’s a lot of fun.”

Matilda’s dad, Nick, said it was also important for his family to support the services that helped him during the last days of Karen’s life.

“We obviously like to do what we can for the service and support in all we can,” Mr Austin said.

More than 80 runners and 400 walkers gathered at Tocal Agricultural College yesterday for the 14th annual walk-a-thon.

“The first walk-a-thon was a walk from the Mater Hospital into Maitland and we had a couple of hundreds walkers but each year it just gets bigger and better,” walk-a-thon organiser Pat Allen said.

“There are so many families that come out for the walk now and it shows what a wonderful community Maitland has.”

The walk-a-thon ended with the release of 500 balloons in memory of those who have lost their lives to cancer.