Walking Home For Christmas
This winter, thousands of people will be Walking Home For Christmas in support of armed forces veterans across the country. The campaign, which runs from 9 to 20 December, is Walking With The Wounded’s annual nationwide fundraising challenge to support its work across mental health, employment, volunteering and care coordination.
An estimated five million veterans live in the UK. While most of the 15,000+ personnel who leave the forces each year have a successful transition to civilian life, a significant minority do not. Walking With The Wounded supports those who served, and their families, to thrive.
Maria Fisher – Windsor to Chertsey Walk (CREDIT: Jose Luis Granell); Andrew Schofield –
London to Manchester walk
Andrew Schofield is a former military police officer. He is one of many veterans who experienced mental health issues after leaving the forces. Now 33 years old, Andrew joined the British Army in 2009. He completed training to become a Military Police Officer and was posted to Northern Ireland. In 2012 he was attached to the Welsh Guards on Operation Herrick in Afghanistan.
This December, he has decided to undertake another challenge. He will be walking 350 kilometres from the Cenotaph in London to the Manchester Cenotaph – and he aims to complete this extraordinary feat in just five days.
Andrew explained: “This walk is a physical representation of my own and many other people’s mental health journeys. It’s tough, lonely, unpredictable and feels impossible to overcome.”
This year, world-renowned explorer, writer and photographer, Levison Wood, is ambassador for the Walking Home For Christmas campaign. Levison spent a number of years as a Regular Officer in the British Parachute Regiment, where he served in Afghanistan fighting against Taliban insurgents in Helmand and Kandahar. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Explorers Club, Honorary Doctor at Staffordshire University and an ambassador of Unicef and a number of other charities.
Participants in the Christmas campaign can complete their own fundraising walk – of any distance and at a location of their choosing – between 9 and 20 December. Some participants opt to walk their children home from school, others walk between offices with colleagues, and there are those who undertake a walk in memory of someone special, or between locations that mean something to them.
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