Walking Home for Christmas

I had initially planned to do this event carrying 45lb but unfortunately an old knee injury stopped me in my tracks. After medical advice, I have revised the plan, as I refuse to cancel! I am inviting a group of veterans along for moral support and to talk about our own mental health.

On December 28th a group of Veterans and I will walk home for Christmas in memory of my best man, Sean Tansey, who died in Afghanistan 18 years ago. Sean would have been 45 yrs old on December 28th.

I did an event of a similar nature back in December 2010, on Sean's birthday, but this time I will carry a medicine ball, signifying the weight that some soldiers and veterans carry with their mental health during and after conflicts.

The 10th August was the 18th anniversary of the day Sean died, whilst assisting with work on a CVRT tank when a trolley jack collapsed causing him to be crushed under the vehicle.

Sean and I had promised each other that when he returned we would go for a drink, but this never happened. So at the finish line, we will raise a glass of his favourite drink, Jack Daniels and Coke, to commemorate a much loved, and forever missed friend.

The funds that are raised will go to the Head Up charity.

The Head Up Retreat is is at the start of an 18-month program of holistic support that is specifically tailored to the needs of forces personnel, that understands and respects what they have been through, and enables them to visualise and create a healthy, rewarding future. The seven-day residential course will teach simple but highly effective positive-mindset techniques. Guests will work with a comprehensive range of well-being strategies for optimum nutrition and fitness, better sleep, meditation, and communication. They'll also explore therapies such as anger management, music therapy, animal and nature therapy, breathing work, and cold-water therapy.

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