'Race, Retrain, Recover': Forces Motorsport Charity Celebrates Sixth Birthday

A charity which has helped hundreds of injured and retired service personnel find a new lease of life through motorsport is celebrating its sixth birthday.

Although bad weather made a track day impossible, there was plenty to celebrate for Mission Motorsport at Goodwood Circuit.

Among the highlights is the organisation's record of placing a record number of service personnel in the motor industry, as well as helping to launch the Invictus Games Racing team recently.

Mission Motorsport's CEO James Cameron told Forces Network:

"The automotive industry and the wider industry in the UK need quality people and the forces have quality people in spades.

"But sometimes they struggle to make that transition [into civilian life]... and that's really what we and other related initiatives are all about doing - to help people find new futures after the services.

One of those people is Karl Kesterton, who spent almost a decade years in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and now works for a motor dealership in Birmingham. He said:

"I kind of missed the family ethos of the Army, which Mission Motorsport is bringing back to [me]."

The charity's success lies in its simple ethos: 'race, retrain, recover'. It's helped 1,400 people and placed more than 100 in jobs.

One of the other people who can see a bright future ahead because of the charity's work is former Royal Marine Simon Skipp. He said:

"Three and a half years ago I had an accident where I tore my right shoulder to pieces. I had to have about 10 procedures on it.

"Through Help for Heroes and Mission Motorsport I've been able to adapt what skills I did have within the military and take them into civilian uses.

"[Now I'm] hopefully looking forward to a placement at Jaguar Land Rover in the near future."

More: Former Royal Navy Man Named Tower Of London's Newest Beefeater