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73 AES Exercise Bears Coast Challenge

Richard Graham is raising money for Combat Stress
In memory of Paul Harris
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The UK's leading charity for veterans' mental health. For over a century, we've helped former servicemen and women deal with issues like trauma, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Today, we provide support to veterans from every service and every conflict.

Story

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: #ff0000; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">WELL THAT'S IT, THE COAST TO COAST IS OVER AND DONE WITH.&nbsp; IT CERTAINLY PROVED TO BE HARDER THAN EVERYONE THOUGHT IT WOULD WITH THE NIGHT TIME LEGS CLEARLY BEING THE MOST DIFFICULT.&nbsp; AN AMAZING EFFORT TO ALL THOSE WHO TOOK PART IN WALKING, IT HAS BEEN A GREAT EXPERIENCE AND ONE WHICH WILL BE REMEMBERED BY ALL.&nbsp; MORE IMPORTANTLY A MASSIVE THANKS TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO EITHER DONATED THROUGH THIS PAGE OR IN PERSON. HOWEVER YOU DONATED IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER BUT WHAT DOES MATTER AND WILL HOPEFULLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IS THE AMOUNT OF MONEY RAISED SO A BIG THANKS TO ONE AND ALL FROM 73 ARMOURED ENGINEER SQUADRON.</span></strong></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: #ff0000; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">PLEASE REMEMBER IF DONATING TICK THE GIFT AID BOX AS MORE MONEY GOES TO THE CHARITY!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">What we aim to do is walk the Wainwright Coast to Coast walk from St Bees, Cumbria to Robin Hoods Bay, Yorkshire as a relay. We intend to to complete the 197 miles in 4 days and in doing so try to raise &pound;5000 for a very worthy cause.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">To any soldiers reading</span></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Who was Paul Harris? Paul was a soldier just like you and I, many of you reading this now will have known Paul, but for those who never had the privilege please take two minutes to read on.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Paul was every bit a lad&rsquo;s lad and every bit an old school section commander, he really knew his lads well and his job even better. Paul was thought of in such high regard that he was elected to teach and nurture potential JNCO&rsquo;s on the last Regt cadre. He was the life and soul of any party and could bring out the best of his lads and those around him no matter what they faced both at home, in camp or on Ops. He was a father of&nbsp;four wonderful kids who he loved so much, talking about them all of the time. But the thing Paul was the most was in turmoil. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sadly Paul ended his own life back in May as for whatever reason he thought his only answer to the turmoil he was suffering was to take his own life. Who really knows what makes a man like Paul choose this option? Very few people reading would be able to answer I&rsquo;m sure, but one thing&rsquo;s for certain no one should feel the need to bottle up the sort of things that Paul clearly did. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">To all others reading</span></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I never started the above paragraph with a view to single soldiers out from others but just to highlight that Paul was a good soldier with many great qualities. I'm sure you'll agree these are qualities that many soldiers have in abundance, however what this does go to show is that no matter how strong a person you are if you bottle your feelings and keep them hidden away you will always be fighting an 'Enemy within' and this may prove to be a battle you cannot win.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">So please take the time to make a donation to our chosen charity COMBAT STRESS, which the UK's leading charity in supporting veterans of all three services who may be suffering from one or more syptoms of mental health problems. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: &amp;amp;amp;amp; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving &ndash; they&rsquo;ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they&rsquo;ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it&rsquo;s the most efficient way to donate -we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p>

Donation summary

Total
£8,508.77
+ £1,452.44 Gift Aid
Online
£6,409.77
Offline
£2,099.00

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