You're probably here because I have harangued you into it or perhaps you inadvertently clicked on a link, either way please give me 2 minutes of your time to read the following.

My name is Kerry Levins and I am a 41 year old Blind Former Army Officer and I am a beneficiary of the charity Blind Veterans UK.  I served in the Army for the whole of the 90's and in that time I travelled to lots of different places and managed to do pretty much everything that the recruiting posters said I would be able to do and a few things that were either missed off the poster or hidden in the small print somewhere.

In my last year of Service I developed a small issue with one of my eyes, initially it didn't have much impact and I transitioned into Civilian life without too much fuss.  Over the next few years this took a turn for the worse and in 2005 I was Registered Blind.  For a couple of years before and after this event I was not in a very good "place", the list of people I upset by being unpleasant is too long to include here suffice it to say it includes just about everyone I know.  the condition itself is known and fairly rare althoiugh the cause has never been identified, suffice it to say that it has been classed as Service Attributable by the MoD (i.e. as a result of my time in service).

Then about three years ago at same time as being paired with a guide Dog I was accepted as a beneficary by Blind Veterans UK, who as a wonderful group of people have shown me that it is less about what I cannot do and more about what I CAN do, I may take a little longer than the next person but there is nothing I cannot do if I set my mind to it and receive appropriate support.  For example with the help of BV:UK I recently drove around the Stowe Circuit at Silverstone behind the wheel of a Bentley Continental GT, anything is possible!

For this reason and for the support that they provide to thousands of other Visually Impaired Ex Service personnel I am supporting Blind veterans Uk by walking 100km (62 miles) from Richmond to Brighton in 24 hours.  The pain and blisters I expect to suffer during the weekend of 9/10 June this year will go some way to demonstrate how strongly I feel about the work that BVUK do!

We all have our pet causes but even in these fiscally austere times I would ask you to please give what you can in support of this cause.

Thank you for taking the time to get this far.