Walk the Walk will donate £20,000 every month to organisations across the UK.

The charity behind the Moonwalk has announced a series of emergency grants to support frontline cancer charities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Walk the Walk will donate £20,000 each month until the end of the year to organisations directly helping cancer patients throughout the crisis.

It comes after analysis by Cancer Research UK revealed that cancer surgery has dropped to around 60% of normal levels during the pandemic, with the number of people receiving chemotherapy treatments falling by 6,000.

Walk the Walk founder and chief executive Nina Barough said the additional pressures threaten to overwhelm local cancer charities, many of whom have also seen their normal sources of fundraising dry up.

Ms Barough said she hopes the emergency grants will keep charities afloat and allow them to continue to provide vital services to cancer patients across the UK.

“After working passionately for the last 23 years to raise money to improve the lives of those living with cancer and for research into breast cancer, it is distressing to see the situation that many cancer patients have found themselves in,” she said.

“I really felt that we should do something no matter what and came up with the idea of providing emergency grants. The main aim of these grants is to give charities funding to get them through the next few months, and hopefully allow them some breathing space, so that they can support those who really need it”.

Walk the Walk’s own fundraising has been massively affected by the pandemic, with the postponement of events, including The MoonWalk Scotland and The MoonWalk London, where millions of pounds would normally be raised in one night.

However, the charity’s supporters have continued to fundraise through the 2.6 challenge and its own virtual “MoonWalk Celebration Road Trip”, raising almost £100,000 in the process.