Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Please will you help me support serving military patients recovering from injury and illness at the UK Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre?

Those of you who have known me for a long time, know that I have raised money for wounded veterans of the British armed forces on several occasions, and now I’m at it again.

Our son, Fergus, has a rare - currently incurable - cancer that resulted in the amputation of his right arm and shoulder in February 2023. In July last year he discovered that it had spread to his lungs. Fergus received chemotherapy but, sadly as expected, it had no effect. He is currently receiving immunotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital in the hope that the cancer can at least be managed and, as he says, he 'can die with it but not of it'.

In the face of this, Fergus’ mental and physical resilience is extraordinary. He only wants to focus on preparing himself to live with one arm and cancer, and to actively support others in similar situations. To help him achieve this ambition, Fergus and I are tackling the Camino de Santiago in April and May. We’re going to walk 810kms across the north of Spain. The journey will take us about 35 days - depending on the weather and our feet!

I’m taking on the Camino challenge to raise funds for the military patients receiving state-of-the-art rehabilitation care to help them recover from injury and illness at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) in the UK.

Fergus is raising money for Blesma, the Military Charity for Limbless Veterans (https://www.justgiving.com/page/trek-for-blesma?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Ftrek-for-blesma).

The DMRC is a purpose-built residential centre providing holistic medical and occupational treatment and social integration opportunities to the patients. (https://www.forces.net/news/uk/first-look-inside-new-ps300m-defence-rehabilitation-centre)

The DMRC Benevolent Fund assists the patients by working with each one to achieve their individual goals, helping them to greater levels of independence, confidence, and ultimately the best quality of life after injury or illness. The benevolent fund needs support because the centre now has as many patients on-site as at the height of the UK’s involvement in operations in Afghanistan.

We’re paying all our own costs, so whatever you can donate will go directly to the DMRC Benevolent Fund - every pound, dollar or euro – will go directly to the welfare and rehabilitation care of the DMRC patients at Stanford Hall.

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.

Thank you for your support for these deserving men and women,

John