Update

My back story to raising funds to support homeless veterans is below. However, as at Tuesday 14 October, thanks to the amazing generosity of friends, colleagues and family from the Shrievalty, fellow veterans and military chums, school chums past and present, trusts and charities, businesses, corporates, and many others, my initial target of £10K has been smashed, as has been the revised £14K target I set on Wednesday 1 October!

The amount donated now stands at a staggering £15.4K, but there remain some four weeks to run before my BIG Sleep at Stonehenge on Friday 14 November, when the long-range weather forecast is not warm and dry!

What to do now? Well, with much hope and fingers crossed, I have increased my target to £18K.....

Back Story

On Friday 5 March 2021 I slept out on top of a hill in SE Wales to raise funds to support homeless veterans. I was partnered by Alabaré, a charity that supports homeless veterans and for which I am an ambassador in Wales. Thanks to the generosity of family, friends, and colleagues I raised over £8.6K which went to support homeless veterans in Wales in Alabaré's Homes for Veterans Cymru.

It is time to do it again.

It is an indictment on our society that there still remain many homeless veterans in the UK, veterans who served to keep our society safe. So, I'm having another crack and aspire to raise £10K. Until 18 September, the plan was to sleep out overnight on 10 October in the garden of St Paul's Cathedral. However, I have been advised by Alabaré that circumstances have changed and that the BIG Sleep will transfer to STONEHENGE on 14 November. Almost certainly, that will be a more chilly, windy, and perhaps wet challenge....!

I and many other participants on 14 November are also veterans. It will be our small act of compassion to help break the cycle of homeless for veterans. However, after what may be an uncomfortable, cold, and maybe wet night, we shall return to our warm homes.

All the funds raised on Friday 14 November will directly support Alabaré's work with homeless veterans across SW England and Wales, helping them off the streets and into Alabaré's homes for veterans. Beyond providing shelter, Alabaré offers tailored support in employment, training, and education to help veterans rebuild their lives and live independently. Alabaré's homes for veterans are more than shelter — they are places of healing, growth, and hope.

To all those lovely, kind people who have already generously supported me, thank you so much. I am aware there are others in the pipeline and I look forward to that support.