For anyone who's intrested I've been intermitently writing a blog about my expereinces so far in training - you can find it here - https://willswalk.blog/ and I have an Instagram account here https://www.instagram.com/william.carver77/

If you joined the British Army in the 1970s there was a good chance you could serve 20 years and never fire your weapon in anger

Despite conflicts in the Falklands and Northern Ireland, most troops would have limited expereince of live combat

However since 2003, for better or worse, British Forces have been continually engaged. Something like 650 personnel have been killed, and hundreds more physically wounded. Many more have come home profoundly changed by their expereinces.

It has now been three years since the UK withdrew from Afghanistan and the memory of what happened, and the men and women who fought there are fading from the media spot light, but the needs of those with physical and mental injuries have not changed. They, and their families, need long term structural support that can only be provided by charities who take the long term view, like The ABF Soldier's Charity.

Since 1944 the ABF has been working to intervine at critical moments in the lives of service personnel, veterans, and their familes to ensure they get the help they need

I'm trying to raise £1,500 for the ABF and to do that I need your help.

The challenge I've set myself is to walk the 100km of the 1918 Allied advance in 3 days in October 2018. 

For those who don't know in the period of June-November 1918 British, Commonwealth, US and French forces finally melted the glacier of the Western Front and despite casualties that easily out stripped those of the Somme in 1916, forced the German Army to surrender on November 11th 1918. It was the bitterest fighting of the war, and took a huge toll in human life from all sides, and yet it is largely forgotten today

I can think of no better way to honour the generation of 1914-18 and help their great grandchildren who fought from 2003-2014, than to walk where they walked, share the expereince with folks and raise what I hope will be a boat-load of money.

Please help me by donating whatever you feel you can - every £1 helps change lives 

I'll be starting a blog about training, including doing the Three Peaks in June 2018 as prep for the walk itself, and I'll share that link soon