This page is set up on behalf of RCDM (Royal Centre for Defence Medicine), the military unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. We are taking a team of 14 tri-service personnel to participate in the Nijmegen Marches over the period 13-20 July 2013. The team are: Lt Col James Ralph, Sqn Ldr Claire Myhill, Flt Lt Thomas Borrough, Capt Ashleigh Rowland, Lt Janine Whitley, WO1 Janine Keeping, WO2 Nicholas Mckenzie, WO2 Nicola Morgan, Sgt Mark Kaye, Cpl Bo Blackett, Cpl Gemma Edge, Cpl Neil Middleton, LCpl Anthony Powell and Pte Julie Henderson. Capt Ashleigh Rowland is our team leader.

The Nijmegen Marches is an event held in Nijmegen, Holland. It involves participants marching 40 km daily (or 26 miles - the equivalent of a marathon a day!) for four consecutive days. This is done with full kit.

For our team to qualify for the Nijmegen Marches, we had to complete a qualifier of 80 km over 2 days in May 2013 to demonstrate that we are capable of taking on this challenge. We are pleased to say that all 14 team members completed qualifiers in either Scotland (lots of hills!) or Northampton (also quite a few hills!). We are also devoting a lot of our own time to training walks to prepare for the event.

We have decided as a team to raise money for Fisher House UK through the QEHB Charity. All wounded service personnel are flown back to RCDM to receive often life-saving treatment for their injuries. Fisher House UK helps the injured and their families by providing accommodation on site, which they can use as a home from home whilst they undergo a full recovery. The charity benefits the injured soldiers by allowing them to live a normal life - they can come and go as they please yet still be in close proximity to the hospital for appointments. Families can remain close rather than having to travel long distances for visits, providing further support for the injured during their recovery. The anxiety and distress of separation from loved ones is removed from the equation at an already difficult time.

We are hoping to raise a lot of money and a lot of awareness for this charity, as not very many people know what this charity stands for and just how much it helps and benefits injured service personnel and families. So please give generously :-)

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