When Anastasia Rickard was a little girl, her great-grand aunt gave her a butterfly pendant just before she died from breast cancer.

It was that moment and that necklace that inspired the now 34-year-old Rotorua accessory designer to make her own pink and black butterfly costume to wear at tonight’s Pink Walk in Rotorua, a fundraiser organised by the Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust.

Hundreds of people dressed in pink costumes came together for the annual event, which started at the Village Green and saw registered participants walk a 3.4km loop of the city’s newly developed lakefront and the Government Gardens.

Last year’s event raised $12,000 for the trust and it is hoped this year’s tally, which should be known in a couple of days, will top that.