GM Moving pays tribute to Jo Taylor and her role in GM Moving In Action

By GM Moving | 19 December 2025 | TAGS:

The team at GM Moving were saddened to hear that Jo Taylor had passed away. Over the last decade Jo has been a brilliant contributor to GM Moving in Action, especially using movement as a tool to support people with primary and secondary breast cancer.

Jo advocated for the benefits of moving for those with breast cancer for many years, forming relationships with patients, clinicians, and healthcare organisations worldwide.

When Jo was diagnosed with primary breast cancer in 2007, she found there was little support or information around what happens next.  Jo said, “One avenue I explored was exercise, finding that my own mental health and wellbeing improved substantially when exercise became part of my own approach to my diagnosis".

As such, Jo set up ABCDiagnosis (After Breast Cancer Diagnosis), creating a website sharing information to support others with breast cancer.

A year later Jo discovered her cancer had spread and had become incurable. However, she continued to support others by developing web content, engaging in patient advocacy and setting up subsidised exercise retreats.  She also set up METUPUK, the UK’s only patient advocacy charity focusing exclusively on secondary breast cancer.

Through ABCDiagnosis, Jo delivered free Nordic walking sessions for women with breast cancer. For Jo, this wasn’t just about getting people moving; it was about bringing people together to support each other through a very challenging time.

In 2020, Jo saw an opportunity to reach more women and successfully applied for a grant from our GM Walking Fund to train a network of women with breast cancer in Nordic walking so they could set up their own groups all around Greater Manchester. The idea was that this would vastly increase the capacity and reach of these groups across our region, enabling more women with breast cancer to experience the physical, mental, social and emotional benefits of Nordic walking with others.

Watch Jo talk about the progress and impact of the Nordic walking sessions in the video below.

Carole Pollard, GM Moving’s Community Walking Lead said,
 
“I first got to know Jo through our GM Moving work, and she became a fantastic and inspiring support to me while navigating my own metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. When I joined METUPUK, I saw what a powerhouse she was, working tirelessly to advocate for us patients and helping to change the system to improve outcomes for us. I’m so proud to have called Jo a friend, and will continue working with METUPUK to ensure her incredible legacy continues”

Kat Pursall, Strategic Lead at 10 GM said,

“I met Jo through another giant of metastatic breast cancer campaigns and close friend, Helen Bacon. They taught me about the inequality of funding, treatment, awareness and accountability surrounding secondary breast cancer, and about the unfairness of a system where secondary breast cancer data isn’t included in statistics. They fought hard to become visible against what they used to call “the pink tutu brigade”. 

They were also strong believers of the importance of living active lives throughout cancer, often against a tide of ‘rest is best’ misinformation. 5K Your Way is a testament to this. As I now undergo my own cancer journey, I can feel in my mind and my body just how beneficial moving is. As the evidence that backs this up becomes stronger  it is all the more crucial to pick up the baton from Helen and Jo and carry on their mission.”

Hayley Lever, CEO, GM Moving said,

“Jo and I got to know each other through her incredible work described above - and I got to know her more as a person when we walked together around Dovestone reservoir and nervously prepared our TEDX talks in Oldham. Jo was a wonderful, warm, funny, honest woman, who was courageous in her leadership, advocacy and challenge of the status quo.

Jo was deeply committed to supporting others living with and recovering from cancer - it was quite phenomenal what she did and how she did it. She believed and understood the power of movement and physical activity and our connection with each other, and nature. She was the epitome of a GM Moving “Mover and Shaker” and we will be forever grateful for all her contributions to our conferences, events, blogs and talks, and in her incredible retreats.

Jo’s leadership has helped to change the way people think about cancer and physical activity, in Greater Manchester and beyond. She has helped to change culture, health systems, process and lives for the better.

Thank you, Jo, your legacy will continue to make a difference to GM Moving in Action and for many people and their families.”