A GROUP of women have raised more than £16,000 in the fight against breast cancer while spreading awareness about road safety in the New Forest.

The 12 women, who called themselves the New Forest Night Mares, took part in the London MoonWalk earlier this month, walking 26.2 miles through the night.

The MoonWalk raises money for Walk the Walk which is the largest grant making charity in the UK.

During the walk, the women were dressed in high-visibility bras with tails and ears to celebrate the New Forest pony and raise awareness of crashes involving the animals.

Pilates teacher Juliet Nicholas from Beaulieu, who came up with the idea, said: “I love getting people motivated to embrace physical challenges. Walk the Walk is such a brilliant charity, raising money for breast cancer research by simply getting people to walk more. As we were largely training on Forest roads we also wanted to draw attention to the dangers from motorists for New Forest ponies, as so many are killed on the local roads at night. Hence the hi-vis bras and pony ears and tails which we wore around London.”

The Night Mares have held coffee mornings, cake sales, flower arranging demonstrations, pelvic floor work shops, Pilates classes, bring and buy events, a skittles night and an auction of promises at venues around the forest.

One of the team was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after signing up for the Moonwalk, but she still managed to complete the 13.1 mile Half Moon Marathon just two weeks after finishing radiotherapy.

Juliet added: “Having one of our number going through treatment as we were training really hammered home how important research into this dreadful disease is.”

To make a donation justgiving.com/fundraising/newforestnightmares.