Maggie’s London Night Hike, in conjunction with Open House, returns for a sixth year on Friday 17th September 2010, with participants offered exclusive access to some of the capital’s most iconic buildings.

One of the locations confirmed for the route is the Horses Guards, which is the stop where 20-year-old Nicole Brancheau met her knight in shining armour at the 2008 Night Hike.

Nicole, who is from the US, decided to volunteer at the London Night Hike 2008 as she felt it would be a fitting way to give ‘something back’ after she received excellent support from Denver, Colorado’s Children’s Hospital while being treated for Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia from 2001-2003.

Nicole, who is a student at the University of Michigan, met her future husband, Household Cavalry member Charlie Parish, 24, from Reading, at the event.

Nicole said: “The atmosphere at the London Night Hike is amazing with everyone excited to be part of such an enjoyable and exciting event for such an important cause. I got to know so many wonderful people that night many of whom I’m still friends with. The volunteers and the walkers, who all had their personal reasons for taking on the challenge, were proud of their cause and excited to share their own experiences and that type of atmosphere was completely contagious. The person who came to be the most important person I met that night was, of course, Charlie.

"We were lucky we got to chat that evening, as I was ill and losing my voice and Charlie isn’t usually allowed to speak while in uniform. It really was against all the odds! We ended up chatting all night and the next day he phoned me to ask if I would like to go for a walk around Hyde Park. It’s been two years now and we are engaged! Maggie’s holds a special place in our hearts, due to it bringing us together and due to my personal experience of cancer.”

Charlie added: “The both of us have had family members and friends who have been diagnosed with cancer, and we know that it is the people beside them during that fight—other family, doctors, nurses, and other support—that has helped them find strength. We hope for the best with the continuation of Nicole’s good health, but we at least know that if anything were to happen we could count on support from a centre like Maggie’s to help us make it through."

Nicole and Charlie visited Maggie’s London Centre at Charing Cross Hospital this week to see the centre. “I know how important it is for individuals and families going through cancer to be supported emotionally, as my family went through this when I was just 11-years-old,” says Nicole, “I was lucky to have a wonderful staff at the hospital where I went for treatments, but some places are more capable of providing that support than others. Londoners should be proud to have such an amazing facility as their own Maggie’s Centre, and the UK should be proud of how much they’ve already given to create these centres all across the nation—the people of this country clearly appreciate how important progress and support is to cancer and cancer research. I would encourage people to sign up for the night hike this year to support Maggie’s and to be part of one of the most exciting nights out taking place in London this year.”

Thousands of people have taken part in the London Night Hike in the past five years, raising over £2 million for the innovative cancer support charity. This year will be the first year where participants will have the option of choosing between doing a 10 or 20-mile route.

Lucy MacKay, Maggie’s Events Manager, said: “It’s so lovely for us to have Nicole and Charlie visit our London Centre and hear them share their story. The London Night Hike is a truly special and unique event, where anything can happen, including falling in love! We are working hard to make sure that this year’s London Night Hike is a night to remember, with participants set to see London in a different light, whilst remembering loved ones and celebrating life. The money raised will allow Maggie’s to help even more people to live with, through and beyond cancer.”

For more details about the London Night Hike visit www.maggiescentres.org/nighthike or call 0300 123 1801.