On the road for charity (From Evesham Journal)

On the road for charity

1:00pm Tuesday 21st August 2012 in Evesham

THREE Evesham men – two of them former soldiers – have marched 15 miles carrying 14kg bergens on their backs for a military charity.

The trio walked from the TA Centre in Worcester to Fairfield in Evesham to raise money for the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Families Association (SSAFA).

John McClay, aged 43, from Fairfield, a TA sergeant who is a former member of the Irish Guards and saw service in Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland; Adrian Nash, aged 25, from Bengeworth, a former lance corporal in the Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters Regiment, who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan; and their friend Eddie Fray, 39, a plasterer from Eastwick Park, completed the gruelling challenge.

Mr McClay said: “As far back as the Second World War, both service and ex-service personnel have suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, but unfortunately have not been provided with adequate and necessary support. So many of them have served in operations around the world and too many of them have been exposed to and will have had to endure traumatic, often life-changing, experiences during their service.

“Raising money for SSAFA enables our forces personnel to receive the help and treatment they both need and deserve.”