Care for Casualties - An Appeal by the Rifles Regimental Trust

(Charity Number: 1119061)

My name is Stanley Wilkinson and I work in Shrewsbury House (Branch) for Smiths News Plc, which is a very large Newspaper and Magazine wholesaler who distribute newspapers and magazines to retail outlets of which there are thousands, the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. Each Smiths News House (Branch) has designated a worthy charity and management and staff in Shrewsbury House (Branch) designated CARE FOR CASUALTIES.

On the 2nd January 2012 I decided to enter the ballot for the Great North Run Half Marathon which will take place on Sunday 16th September 2012, and that I would do it for Care for Casualties which is such a worthy cause. This was easier said than done as I was overweight (17 stone) and I had to be accepted in the ballot for the Great North Run Half Marathon, so I had to come up with a strategy. First of all I had to put in place a self-imposed diet with the intention of losing a minumum of 3 stone and I am glad to say I have now lost 3 and a half stone. Secondly, I had to start and get myself fit so that I can run and complete the Great North Run Half Marathon. It has not been easy but from starting my training in January by power walking 4 miles per day and then gradually upping it to running the 13 miles, I am glad to say I now run 13 miles twice a week, so I should be fine by the time I do the Great North Run Half Marathon in September. Thirdly, and probably the most important part was that I had to be successful in the ballot for the Great North Run Half Marathon and I was not successful in the first ballot, however, I was in the second ballot and was eventually successful and accepted at the end of February by which time I had been on a self-imposed diet and training regime for two months and now it is August, and I have had my 60th Birthday, it is full speed ahead.

While doing my training we at Smiths News Plc have still been raising money for various charities including Care for Casualties in various ways such as an Easter Egg Raffle, Queens Jubilee Draw, Cycle ride from Southampton to Newcastle Upon Tyne, The Ridgeway Walk (52 miles), Car Boot Sales, Race NIghts, Shrewsbury Charity Bike Ride, Sky Diving, and many more events.

Care for Casualties is a charity in aid of servicemen and women of the Rifles Regiment who have been and still are being wounded and badly injured in combat zones around the world. As you may be aware we have had some five thousand, five hundred (5,500) of our servicemen and women wounded in conflicts in recent years. The Rifles Regiment, as our largest Regiment has borne a significant number of these casualties. The Rifles Regiment is the largest Regiment within the British Army with a total of seven (7) Battalions. The Rifles Regiment were formed in 2007 out of the following regiments: The Light Infantry (Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, Durham Light Infantry), The Royal Green Jackets, The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment, The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, The Rifles became the county regiment of the followng counties: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Durham, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Yorkshire and Wiltshire. You yourself probably have friends, relatives or you know someone who has friends and relatives that are in or have been in the armed forces and have been wounded and badly injured. These servicemen and women, and not forgetting their families, need as much help as we can give them, so please be generous and sponsor me what you can afford for Care for Casualties.

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