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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.   ******************WALK COMPLETED ***************  THE WALK HAS BEEN COMPLETED BY ALL THE TEAM First to complete @ 18hrs 50mins....Anth & Mark. Second in at 18hrs 55, Wesley & Nick. Julie & Zoe completed it in 19hrs 35. Tracey and Kev 20hrs 5 mins. WELL DONE TO ALL. Many thanks to Brian, David & Lyndsey for providing the support. Many thanks to everyone who has donated, all funds collected on/off line are expected to top £2000.00 Final amount and youtube tribute should be published within the next couple of weeks.                             IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO DONATE                    Please continue to donate through this web site                                                                                                                                     EVENT IS NOW A TEAM EFFORT..... We will now be making the crossing as a team. Joining us are....  Julie Lound, Tracey Mundy, Zoe Roocroft, Nick Dobson and Mark Bibby.  Also Brian and Dave Sayers will be giving up their time to drive the support bus/get 'kettle on/massage tired feet/offer a shoulder to cry on etc...  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LYKE WAKE WALK is a complete crossing of the North Yorkshire Moors along their main east-west watershed between the Stone at Ravenscar and Cod Beck Reservoir Osmotherley, a distance of approximately 40 miles.   The objective is to complete the walk within 24 hours, the essential point is that there is no official route. As long as you start at the start and end at the finish or start at the finish and end at the start (it can be done in either direction) and keep as far as possible to the high ground, you can follow any suitable route.   The journey however will not be easy, as you have 5,000 feet of total ascent, peat bogs and ravines to traverse and quite possibly strong winds and lashing rain to contend with. Oh ... and not forgetting, part of it is done in the dark!   Kev and I are Brothers in law and are no strangers to long distance walking. Well that might have been true 15 to 20 years ago when having become bored of the gym but wanting to remain reasonably fit, we took up challenge walking.   Between us we have covered large sections of the Pennine Way, Cleveland Way, Three Peaks Challenge various local routes and the Lyke Wake 3 times (Kev completing it every time, unfortunately I failed on the two occasions that I attempted it) so you could say this is my Achilles heal!     That said however, we are both in our mid 40’s Kev’s a lot fatter and I’m sure my legs have become even shorter, the fitness regime went out of the window many years ago with the exception of the occasional dog walks to a country pub so its going to be a slog!   We will be spurred on by the much younger (hopefully fitter) Wesley, Kevs youngest Son and Jack, Kevs dog (fit as a butchers ‘erm … dog!)   The ROYAL DRAGOON GUARDS WELFARE APPEAL has been set up to raise funds to support the needs of the Regimental family (both the serving soldiers and their dependants) over the course of their deployment to Afghanistan. In particular the funds will also be used to help soldiers and their families deal with any casualties the Regiment may sustain during the tour.   RDG are currently back at base in Catterick Garrison following a six month deployment sadly without four of their brave soldiers…   Trooper ASHLEY DAVID SMITH   Trooper JAMES ANTHONY LEVERETT   Corporal MATTHEW JAMES STENTON   Sergeant DAVID THOMAS MONKHOUSE   It is on a personal note that we have chosen this charity to sponsor.   James Anthony Leverett….“Jimmy” to us “levy” to his army pals was killed in an explosion on the 5th of July whilst providing protection to a workforce to enable the building of road in the Babaji area of Nahr-e Saraj district in Helmand province so local Afghans could move more freely.   He was held in such high esteem by all who knew him especially within the Regiment.   Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith, Commanding Officer, The Royal Dragoon Guards, said: "Trooper James Leverett (known as Levy) was a Royal Dragoon Guard of significant potential. He had only been with the regiment for 18 months but in this short time he had more than made his mark. He was a model soldier. Trooper Leverett was always pushed to the front as his Squadron Leader recognised that Levy had all the qualities associated with a modern-day Armoured Corps trooper. He was young, bright, robust, fit, brave, intelligent and tremendously popular.   He was not afraid to speak his mind, but he always did so in a balanced and measured fashion. However, it was the twinkle in his eye and his quick wit that I will really remember; the fact is that he had more than enough professional attributes to get away with it. He loved the regiment and his fellow soldiers, and he also loved his family very dearly."       Jimmy was the much loved boyfriend to my daughter Tiffany. She was just 8 weeks away from giving birth to their baby when tragedy struck.   He had told her that if the worst was to happen, not to cry but to channel all her energy into bringing up their son (so convinced was he that they would have a boy ..and only confirmed the day after his death).   She remained remarkably strong and gave birth to baby James on the 24th of August but due to complications the baby would need several weeks of intensive care. It was then that the RDG WELFARE helped out providing financial help with the sudden unexpected costs of having to travel daily to and from hospital to be with her baby. It wasn’t a huge amount but it made all the difference.   Raising money for the RDG WELFARE APPEAL is our way of saying thanks.   Knowing that the families of these BRAVE SOLDIERS will not be forgotten when tragedy strikes shows that we care about THEM.   RDG are due to return for another tour in Afghanistan winter 2012,   Please donate generously. Anth & Kev & team !

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