As part of my recovery from an illness in 2018 I took up
cycling.  This started by puffing and
panting on an ancient mountain bike round bridleways near the village where I was brought up before the
gift of a road bike led me to expand my horizons and take on rides I would never have thought possible.

The next step is a cycling challenge.  As a former Army Officer who served in
Germany, Norway, Canada and the Balkans the obvious choice was the Royal
British Legion Industries 150 mile ride from Kent to Ypres taking place this
summer.

This year  RBLI is
celebrating 100 years of delivering vital support to vulnerable veterans &
people with disabilities. Right now for every person they can help, there’s one
they can’t. That’s why they need people like us; with more funding, they can
grow their Centenary Village, and support more people who need them, and help
them to find their purpose again. They enable the people they support take
steps towards independence. 

The Centenary Village is a significant investment for the
future of ex-Armed Forces personnel throughout the UK. This investment will
provide further crucial housing and welfare help to help veterans who come to
RBLI with no money, no job and nowhere to live and provide them with a place to
call home.  The RBLI developed a truly
unique community built upon an ethos of integrated care, encompassing health,
social care, welfare and employment in one single place to help individuals
turn their lives around more quickly. 
They now house more than 300 veterans and their families through family
housing, independent-living, a high-dependency care home and emergency
accommodation for those most in need of immediate support.

So on Friday 12th July 2019, in aid of  the ex-servicemen and women who are in
desperate need of support,  along with
many others, including some veterans who have benefitted from the work of
RBLI, I will be taking part in a Centenary
Ride, and will cycle for 2 days from Aylesford in Kent, through the historic
Great War battlefields of France and Belgium, finishing in the town of Ypres,
at the Menin Gate, in time for the Last Post ceremony.

RBLI and I would be very grateful for your sponsorship.