On Friday 22nd August, fourteen intrepid bikers will depart from Bletchley Park and ride 580 miles to RAF Lossiemouth. Our aim is to raise £10,000 for the RAF Association by emulating the kind of journey a wartime despatch rider may have taken. Please help us to reach our target.

At the centre of the team is a genuine WWII Matchless G3L WD despatch rider bike. This machine was delivered to Allied forces Middle East in 1941 and is still going strong today. A variety of old and modern bikes will complete the journey, including another ex-military bike: a 1995 Harley Davidson MT350. To make things just a little more challenging, the team are only allowed to ride on roads that existed in 1941 (in other words terrible ones) and will take three days for the journey……hopefully!

Bletchley Park is our point of departure because here intercepted enemy radio messages were decrypted before the subsequent intelligence was carried by despatch riders to headquarters around the country. For our mission, we’ve been entrusted with a message from the current Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, to Group Captain Sarah Brewin, Station Commander RAF Lossiemouth.

The team are a mixture of military and civilian personnel and are ably supported by two medics in the back-up van. All admin costs for the journey are borne by the riders. Every penny you donate goes to RAFA.

For more than 90 years the RAF Association has been here for the RAF community, providing life-changing help and support to serving personnel, veterans and their families.

From their involvement with peacetime operations, to overseas deployments where they are separated from family and friends, the contribution of the RAF community to our society is significant. Whatever their need, we ensure that those who have given so much on our behalf are able to lead the dignified, fulfilled and independent lives they deserve.

Thank you for supporting #TeamRAFA