Veterans And Serving Soldier Hiking 400km For Military Charity

A group of veterans and a serving soldier are hiking 400km to raise awareness of mental health.

The men are raising funds for the military charity, Walking With The Wounded, to help ex-Armed Forces personnel facing mental health battles.

The hike, split over 12 days and with each team member walking 66km, is also part of their training for a charity trek across the deserts of Oman.

One of the veterans taking part is Dave Adams, whose destination for his trek are the gates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Berkshire.

Mr Adams told Forces News: "Fundraising, of course, is very important, but mainly it's [about] raising awareness that there is a community out there that may well fall under the radar of a lot of different agencies.

"Keeping charities like Walking With The Wounded going, to make sure the veterans have a place to turn [to] is incredibly important, in my opinion [and] that's why I'm walking today."

He is part of a team that was meant to be trekking across Oman in November, but the trip was postponed until February 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The veteran said training for the Oman trek "hasn't gone perfectly".

"The biggest difficulty has been the weather," he said. 

"[When it's] cold, it's hard to get motivated in these sort of times, especially when it's very dark when you get up," he said.

Mr Adams added: "Fingers crossed, when we go in February the Sun will be out and it will be a completely different kettle of fish."

In Essex, veteran Brian O’Neill has just completed his hike.

He said: "The charity does this every year, they've done it for the past two years, which is absolutely brilliant. It's amazing and such a great cause to support."

The patron of Walking With The Wounded is Prince Harry, who took part in the charity's epic South Pole trek in 2013.

In a promotional video, the Duke of Sussex is backing the postponed Oman walk.

"To the men and women selected for this team, good luck. I know people all over the world who'll be cheering you on," the Duke said in the video.

The trek marks a decade of charity challenges to support a range of issues including social isolation, homelessness and unemployment.

This year’s Walking Home For Christmas campaign has seen a record number of people signing up to take part.

It is raising funds for veterans already in need of support who are now facing a new battlefield in the form of COVID-19.

For more information you can visit the Walking Home For Christmas website.