This is our Coldstream Guards' Charity page.  Our Help for Heroes page is http://www.justgiving.com/Team-James-Hill-Help-for-Heroes 

WE DID IT!! - with no major injuries but a huge and varied number of colourful bruises to mark our passage through the day, Team James Hill spent a day as a guardsman.  It was tough, it was dirty and most of us got very wet. By the end of a very long day we were exhausted and exhilarated in equal measure. It was truly a day all of us will treasure forever.  The hospitality of the Coldstream Guards together with their attention to detail and planning for the day was like their motto "second to none".  We would like to thank them all very much for all they showed us, taught us and helped us over, under and through.  We will be forever grateful for this insight into a small piece of what many of our armed forces do for us. 

To read more of what we got up to, see below...

THE TEAM JAMES HILL CHALLENGE consists of:
 - 1 fallen guardsman
 - 1 mother of fallen guardsman and valued teacher of more than 30 years
 - 1 proud loving father
 - 1 young woman wishing to keep her fiance's memory alive
 - 1 fierce assault course more used to getting guardsmen fit for battle
      than...
 - 10 mums from the guardsman's mother's school, hoping to help the memory of James Hill live on and to
     raise funds for Help for Heroes and the Coldstream Guards.And finally you, who we hope will join us in our challenge through sponsorship and support.
The training has commenced. The date has been fixed:  16 July 2010.  The
venue:  Aldershot/Pirbright

Please support us and tell your friends and colleagues.  To hear more of our story read on...

This story started with a tragedy, the death of a brave young man.

This was followed by a desire to show respect and support to his family and fiancee.

Next a few people in a pub hatching a crazy plan....

A surprising twist in the tale was a desire by the fallen soldier's mother and fiancee to join the challenge.

The end of the story is really up to you, but we hope that between us, we will raise a lot of money for two very worthwhile causes.

So here's what happened:

What have a group of 12 women got in common with the Coldstream Guards? At first sight, not a lot.

Until a few weeks ago, Claire Hill was known to 10 of the women as 'Mrs Hill' a lovely and much valued teacher to their children at a local infant school. Their children had often spoken about James (Mrs Hill's son) a soldier who used to come in to help at school. To the youngest woman in the group (Anastasia) Mrs Hill was known as 'Mama'. She was going to be her mother-in-law as she was engaged to James.

Like much of our community, the whole school was devastated when James, Mrs Hill's only child, was killed in action in Afghanistan in October 2009.

7 months on Anastasia organised an auction for the Coldstream Guards and Help for Heroes. Lots of the Mums from Mrs Hill's school didn't know Anastasia, but wanted to show their support and attended. Not interested in signed F1 goodies or other popular items, they started bidding against each other for a day, for 12 people, to train with the Coldstream Guards. They hatched a plan, mid bidding, that they could go together. They 'won'. Shortly thereafter the thought hit them that they could use the opportunity to raise some money. They told Mrs Hill and Anastasia what they were up to and they said they wanted to come along too.

Excitement turned to dread on returning home and Googling their prize. A gruelling day as a soldier going over high things, through wet things, dangling under things, shooting things. . . . . . http://www.shinycapstar.com/lolmar09.htm

Desperate not to be defeated by the challenge, fitness training has started in earnest. Mrs Hill is now known as 'Mama Hill' to us all. A team spirit with a wonderfully positive drive has set in. The challenge isn't for the fastest times or best individual results - it is for Team Hill to get through the day, for us to keep the memory of James alive and in doing so hopefully help a lot of people by raising a lot of money.

Whilst you can't be there on the day with us, you can join in with the spirit of Team James Hill by sponsoring us and sending a message of support - we need it!

We are also raising money for Help for Heroes and if you would prefer to give money to that charity please go to our other page:  http://www.justgiving.com/Team-James-Hill-Help-for-Heroes

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’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’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.