Iain Reitze, a former Royal Navy physical training instructor (PTI) with nearly 30 years’ service in the Armed Forces, will tomorrow (Tuesday, June 17) holding a unique fundraiser from three charities close to his heart: Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, Cancer Research, and SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity.
Iain, who hails from Liverpool, will be walking for 30 hours – one hour for each year of his service – through London criss-crossing the Thames via the city’s bridges to raise funds for these three great causes. He will also be sleeping rough at night in recognition of the many veterans that do each night.
The former PTI, who turned 60 earlier this month, followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Royal Navy as a young man – and in Iain’s case, just after his 16th birthday. Sadly, his father, Gordon, died when Iain was 13 and so never got to see his son join the Senior Service.
Iain’s mother died in 2000 aged just 63, and his sister Victoria has recently had what he describes as a “… very, very tough battle with cancer”. His wife, Jackie, and some close friends have also had their own experiences of the disease.
“The help they’ve had on their tough journeys,” he begins “has been exceptional and we must continue the research into hopefully eliminating it once and for all.
“There were times when I really thought both Jackie and Victoria wouldn’t come out of hospital, and it felt like a very dark, sad place being absorbed by this disease.”
He had not always been a PTI in the Navy, joining first as a sonar operator, then retraining some years later to become a physical trainer, before subsequent training at Headley Court to become an Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor, rehabilitating wounded and injured.
Iain has had his own struggles, some physical, some psychological as he explains:
“I left the Forces in 2008 and have delivered health and wellness to thousands of people since, and I feel this has kept me focused and sane because I struggled when I first left and came into the uncertainty of Civvy Street.
“So many of our veterans, men and women who have given so much and were prepared to give it all, struggle when they leave, experiencing homelessness and finding readjustment hard, but SSAFA helps them, including with its Mentoring programme.
“But all I’d known from the age of 16 was friendships, loyalty, comradeship, and security of Armed Forces life, and I quickly learnt that Civvy Street can lack a lot of that.
“I then also struggled mentally when I had to undergo two hip replacements due to the deterioration of my joints from the service lifestyle.”
But Iain, who has two beloved dogs – Gordon, named after his father, and Eric, named after an uncle that raised him as is own – did not quit, and now he is giving back in his own way by raising thousands of pounds to help others so whatever they are facing, they will not be battling alone.
To support Iain, visit his fundraising page here justgiving.com/crowdfunding/iain-reitze?utm_medium=CR&utm_source=WA.
For more information on SSAFA’s Mentoring service, click here ssafa.org.uk/get-help/joining-civvy-street/transitional-mentoring-for-service-leavers.
Iain steps off at 7am tomorrow from Tower Bridge, completing his 30-hour walk at approximately 1pm on Wednesday, June 18 back at Tower Bridge.
