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82-year-old blind veteran to take on 24 hour endurance cycle challenge at Brands Hatch

A blind veteran from Brighton has rekindled a lifelong passion for cycling as he prepares for a 24 hour cycle challenge around the iconic Brands Hatch racetrack in aid of military charity Blind Veterans UK.

Peter Burbery, 82 and from Brighton, will take part in the challenge on 16 September with three other blind veterans supported by Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for blind and vision-impaired ex-Service men and women. All four blind veterans will make up a relay team, each undertaking six-hour sections to complete the 24 hour challenge alongside their sighted tandem pilots.

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Liverpool blind veteran to take on 22-mile walk along D-Day beaches for military charity

A blind veteran from Liverpool is currently training to take part in a 22-mile walk along on the Normandy coastline to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day.

Mike Johnson, 55 and from Knotty Ash, will take part in the event alongside five other blind veterans supported by Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-Service men and women. The challenge will take place on 6 June, the anniversary of the 1944 Allied invasion of occupied France.

Mike says: “I feel very honoured to be taking part because while it’s a physical challenge, the event is really about keeping alive the memory of those brave men who lost their lives on the beaches of France.”

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F4H Support to Brathay Windermere Marathon Long Weekend May 2018.

Our best yet! The largest number of former delegates travelling back to Brathay, allowing almost all of the refreshments stands to be staffed by F4H volunteers (5 of 7). As well as taking part in reinforcement and revision packages: #thejourneycontinues. Three former delegates ‘tabbed’ the marathon and 4 ran it, the remainder (and members of their family) staffed the stands. Great funding raised, thank you all. The second annual stone balancing competition fiercely contested – 3 joint winners! The long weekend enjoyed by all.

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The Tweed Challenge

The Tweed Challenge is a bid by two inexperienced kayakers to navigate 97 miles of the famous Scottish river to raise funds for Veterans Aid.

Its aim is to help VA prevent ex-servicemen and women in crisis from becoming street homeless – and providing an immediate way out for those who are.

A meeting on the touchline of a rugby match, while cheering on their sons five years ago, led to an unexpected outcome for a 49-year-old Scottish businessman and a 46-year-old army officer.

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5th June 2018: OA Webinar – Opportunities with Highways England

Highways England is actively recruiting; this webinar will discuss the diverse range of opportunities available including project management, engineering, HR, procurement and communications.

We will be joined by Robert Jaffier, former Royal Navy, now an Asset and Resource Manager in Operations and Polly Nicholls from Human Resources. They will discuss the current roles within the organisation and how to excel throughout the recruitment process.

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Disabled Veteran to take part in Worthing 10k

Former RAF Flight Engineer and Air Gunner, Doug Waghorn, will be taking part in the upcoming Worthing 10k road race, as part of local charity, Care for Veterans’ Fantastic Fifty running team.
The charity has recruited more than 50 runners to join its team for the 10km route along Worthing seafront on Sunday 3 June, to help raise vital funds.

Care for Veterans, based at Boundary Road, Worthing, provides residential nursing care, rehabilitation, respite and end of life care to physically disabled ex-Service personnel and their family members.

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East Anglian blind veterans learn how to sail in Levington

Six blind veterans from East Anglia have been taking to the waves and learning a new skill during a sailing taster day, provided by Blind Veterans UK and The East Anglian Sailing Trust.

Through the use of audio navigation units, tactile charts and Discovery Pens, the vision-impaired ex-Service men were able to fully partake in the exciting day of sailing in Levington, near Ipswich.

The blind veterans, who hail from Ipswich, Colchester, Ely and Southwold, fulfilled a variety of roles on the yacht, including: navigator, helmsman, mainsheet trimmer and grinder.

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OA Sponsored Navy Cricket Team has Good Start to Season

The Royal Navy Women’s Cricket Club (RNWCC) was runner-up in its first tournament of the year.

The cricket team, sponsored by the OA, recently competed in the Watsonian Cricket Festival, in Edinburgh. The friendly competition was the first outdoor cricket fixture this season for all clubs involved. The weather was unusually fine, and it was claimed to be one of the biggest ladies’ sporting events in Scotland for the year so far. The team got through to the final but lost to the Army.

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John’s Journey: Ex-Serviceman John Is Joining The Walk Of America…

John Mayhead served in Iraq in 2005 as a company commander in the Coldstream Guards. In the years that followed, he developed PTSD which led into chronic depression and anxiety. This is his story of illness and eventual recovery, leading to his place in this year’s Walk of America.

Strangely, it wasn’t the obvious trauma that most affected me. The horrors of war – luck separating the unscathed and the maimed, dead friends, wounded children – these are the awful reality of combat but one that my Army training had prepared me for since the day, aged 19, I had joined.

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 Anchor Vans to support Tour de Troops cyclists

Anchor Vans, the UK’s biggest commercial vehicle hypermarket, will be supporting dedicated cyclists taking part in the Tour de Troops challenge this summer.

The event, a five-day endurance test that sees participants cycling all the way from Land’s End to John O’ Groats, is taking place in aid of military charity the Felix Fund.

The Felix Fund supports the country’s brave disposal experts, the EOD community and their families.

Official sponsorship for the event comes from L3 TRL Technology, a defence cbersecurity company.

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Afghanistan support

In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here