The Chief of Staff (Nathan Muirhead) and Head of Transport (Chris Kirk) at Blind Veterans UK will be taking to the road - literally - to raise money for Blind Veterans UK.  On 8th May they will set off from Brighton on a trip that, on average, covers one country every 5 hours over 5 days!

Blind Veterans UK currently support more vision-impaired veterans than ever before in the charity’s history and have set an ambitious target to double the number of blind veterans receiving life-changing support by 2022

The blind veteran population is aging and in five years, more than 40% of the blind veterans we support will be over 90. As well as blindness, they are also likely to have other complex needs, some of which will impact both their desire and ability to travel and stay away from home.

In order to ensure that beneficiaries continue to receive the high standard of support that Blind Veterans UK has always provided, they are investing in community-based teams of social care and rehabilitation professionals to bring services closer to them

Research tells us that many veterans currently struggle with sight loss for too long before seeking help. Blind Veterans UK are going to change this so veterans can benefit from help sooner through an ‘associate membership’. This means that they will be better equipped to deal with severe sight loss as it occurs and still maintain independence

Blind Veterans UK are keen to partner with other organisations to deliver bespoke services in the most effective way, playing to their strengths without duplicating existing services

This is a fantastic level of ambition but will require more staff, more volunteers and more money to make it happen, and Nathan/Chris would like to help make a difference.  They will be setting a personal challenge of crossing through 24 countries in just 5 days! That is up to 16 hours of driving and covering up to 1000 miles a day!

Get involved and follow their journey through 24 countries. The current plan will see them visit:

1. France
2. Switzerland
3. Italy
4. Croatia
5. Slovenia
6. Bosnia
7. Montenegro
8. Albania
9. Macedonia
10. Kosovo
11. Bulgaria
12. Serbia
13. Romania
14. Hungary
15. Czech Republic
16. Austria
17. Slovakia
18. Germany
19. Netherlands
20. Belgium
21. Turkey
22. Greece
23. Poland
24. Luxembourg

Where will your donation go?

£10 could be used to purchase a talking watch so blind Veterans can keep track of the time.

£25 could buy a long cane that allows a blind veterans to get out and about.

£100 could help fund a mobile phone specifically designed for vision-impaired people.

£400 could pay for a Smartlux digital, a portable electronic magnifier to help veterans read labels when shopping or to read a menu without assistance.

£500 could fund two Daisy audio book players so veterans can listen to a novel or newspaper.

£1000 could pay for a computer course to help veterans become independent computer users.

£1500 could pay for a standalone text scanner so veterans can access and read their correspondence independently.

Your donation, no matter how small, will really help change the lives of blind veterans. Thank you!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.