The Mount View Leo Club and the Lions Club of Cessnock have teamed up to hold a diabetes awareness activity at Mount View Park (The Basin) this Sunday.
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The walk is part of Lions Australia's national Lap the Map initiative, which is being conducted during Diabetes Awareness Month.
Participants will be encouraged to take a self-paced walk around the embankment of Mount View Park for a distance of up to five kilometres (three laps) - or even one lap will be of benefit.
The cost to join the walk is a gold coin donation for the Diabetes Foundation, and all who register will receive information including a self-assessment tool (for all ages, even children).
Laps will be recorded and the distance added together with similar events around the nation to "lap the map" - with the aim to make a combined distance of 25,760 kilometres, the equivalent to walking around Australia.
More than one million Australians currently have diabetes, with 280 people diagnosed every day.
Type 2 diabetes can be managed with exercise, a good diet and medication.
Lions national diabetes coordinator Pat Mills said the organisation is committed to doing what it can to raise awareness and increase education around diabetes.
"Whether affected by diabetes or not, we encourage people to come along to our Lap the Map events," she said.
"It will be a great day out and a wonderful opportunity to meet with others in your community and increase awareness of this terrible disease."
The Cessnock walk will be held from 10am to noon, with a barbecue, drinks and fruit available. Use the hashtag #LionsLapTheMap on social media.
