20 NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2010
Seadogs scale the peaks
Quirk,
Mackey, Richard Pethybridge, Si Parsons, David Fearon and David Grindel – were undaunted by the atrocious weather that plagued nearly every step of their way, and finished the challenge in 23 hours and 42 minutes. The team were delighted to cross the finish line in seventh place; and were one of only two teams to finish with a full complement. Just goes to show the dogged determination of these old salty types... Team captain Tony said: “The challenge itself was pure team work from start to fi nish. The
THE Salty Old Seadogs took on the challenge of 24 peaks, each over 2,400ft, in 24 hours to raise money for Seafarers UK. The Seadogs who have a combined age of 304 years and 167 years of service in the RN and RM relished the challenge of the demanding event. The Salty Old Seadogs – Tony Steve Sugden, Martin
comradeship and trust built up over six months of planning and training paid dividends on the hill, with the whole team, both walkers and support crew, working as one to achieve the goal. “We had trained hard to maintain a pace that would get us to the fi nish with a few minutes in hand. To cross the line ahead of schedule was fantastic and testament to the determination of the team to keep going as injuries surfaced, bodies started to hurt and the conditions worsened.” Another team tackling the challenge with Naval connections were ‘For Ian’; walking in memory of the late Surg Vice Adm Ian Jenkins who was a former chairman of Seafarers UK. Cdre Barry Bryant, Director General of Seafarers UK said: “This support will help us throw a lifeline to the many seafarers that desperately need our help in these hard times.”
Running for Lilly
DANIEL Astley, a CPO serving in HMS Nelson, believes in miracles, for it was a miracle that saved his daughter Lilly’s sight, and possibly her life.
last January, her aunt was looking through some Christmas photos on Facebook and noticed that one of her eyes was showing white, instead of the usual red-eye. She had seen a documentary about retinoblastoma, a rare form of childhood eye cancer, and advised Daniel and Lilly’s mother, Brooke, to get her checked. Their family doctor immediately referred her to hospital in Portsmouth where it was confirmed that she had a severe problem. Lilly was sent for treatment to
When Lilly was six months old
Since then Lilly has finished a course of chemotherapy and is responding very well.
stories of the failings of the NHS I have nothing but praise for their professionalism, compassion, and most of all speed of action that they provided for Lilly.”
married in October and have asked their wedding guests to make donations to the cancer charity The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust instead of presents. Daniel is taking part in the
the Royal London Hospital, which specialises in retinoblastoma.
Great South Run this month to raise money for the trust – to donate, go to www.justgiving. com/runforlilly
Daniel and Brooke are getting Daniel said: “In these times of
Medical staff are hopeful that the sight has been saved in both her eyes and the prognosis is good.
Afghan runners
C/SGT ‘Mel’ Melville is currently based in Afghanistan where his son, Will, is also serving with 40 Commando Royal Marines.
This month Mel and two colleagues plan to run a marathon within the perimeter of the camp to raise money for the RM Welfare Fund. Julie Davis, the mother of Joseph Davis who is also serving in Sangin Province with the Melvilles, said: “The support the Melvilles give to many young men is incredible and totally selfless. “Despite having both her husband and son serving in Afghanistan, Linda Melville has continued in a very quiet manner to support many wives and families of men who have been and are serving in Afghanistan, including me.” She added: “40 Commando have had the most awful tour with 14 being killed in a very short time.
“The Welfare Service is working to capacity, supporting families of those killed and the many horrifically wounded marines.
“Their work is invaluable at this time and they take a huge amount of needless strain off families by providing consistent support.
“They do all they can to financially support those families in most need – they help with accommodation and transport costs to enable families to support their injured marine on his recovery.”
She added: “They also provide fantastic days out for the young families while their daddies are on active service. They visit country parks and arrange picnics and barbecues enabling the families to have some much-needed time off.” To donate to Mel’s marathon, please send a cheque payable to Central Bank, 40 Commando, to Mel’s Marathon, RM Welfare Team, 40 Commando, Norton Manor Camp, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 6PF or go to
https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/ MelsMarathonMarathonMen
■ L/Cpl Matthew Ash and the Padre of 40 Commando Royal Marines, Andrew Rawding, are running the first half-marathon in Afghanistan in September, to raise money for the Royal Marines’ Association in honour of their fallen comrades. They plan to run around their Forward Operating Base in the Sangin Valley:
https://www.bmycharity. com/V2/Sanginhalfmarathon
Andy’s lazy Sunday
SAILORS usually look forward to a ‘Lazy Sunday’ routine as an opportunity to
chill out and catch up. Not so Lt Andy Haywood, who found a Sunday routine on HMS Ark Royal gave him his only chance to run the marathon-plus he’d been promising himself for nearly a year. Andy originally had the idea of
running 30 miles from Portsmouth Naval Base to Naomi House Hospice, near Winchester, while the ship was in a maintenance period. However, he was always too
● Colin Davies organised a swimming fundraiser at Devonport Picture: LA(Phot) Martin Carney
Swimming for a trek
STAFF at Devonport Naval Base took part in a sponsored swim in the pool at HMS Drake to raise money for disabled people to trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. The swim was to support the charity Limb Power, which is organising the trek to give amputees the opportunity to climb the mountain. The charity also holds amputee games, giving athletes the chance to take part in volleyball, basketball, tennis, badminton, rowing, fencing and many other sports. Colin Davies (ex-RN) arranged the swim to help raise awareness of the charity and to boost funds to take eight adventurous people on the climb, in October.
Laura’s breakthrough
from Torpoint, has used her own experience of cancer as the driving force to raise more than £10,000 for charity. Laura, who works at HMS Raleigh, was first diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago, when she was only 26.
PETTY Officer Laura Washer,
social events and to date she has outstripped her original £1,000 target ten times over. Laura, who joined the RN in 1998 as a Warfare Specialist, said: “We’re planning to hold another charity ball in Raleigh’s Warrant Officers’
Despite undergoing treatment she had setbacks when secondary tumours were discovered, and began her mammoth charity effort to raise money as a Breakthrough Breast Cancer £1,000 Challenger in 2009.
Since then Laura has organised raffles, coffee mornings and other
Mess, and we’re also looking at organising a barn dance and a sale of photographs of the local area,
photographer, Dave Sherfield.” She added: “I didn’t intend to raise so much money, but it has been like an addiction. As the money started coming in, it’s been ‘right, what can we do next?’”
donated by Raleigh’s and Senior Rates’
busy to run on dry land, so he decided to run it at sea instead – despite scorching temperatures off the east coast of the USA, where the Ark was flagship for the Auriga deployment. Starting at 10am, with the sun already high in the sky, and with a little help from his friends who joined him for stages, Andy racked up the 486 shuttles along the length of the carrier’s flight deck to reach his 38-mile target in a little more than eight hours.
Andy said: “I was overwhelmed by the support received from the ship’s company, with many people choosing to run shuttles with me – it really spurred me on.
“The continuous applause I
received during the last mile-and- a-half was incredible.” As it wasn’t enough for Andy to run 36½ miles in the 30˚ heat for eight hours, decided that he would make it
● Lt Andy Haywood runs on the fl ightdeck of HMS Ark Royal Picture: LA(Phot) Gregg Macready
competitive for the ship’s company, and raise more money for Naomi House, by running a competition to guess how fast he could run the last mile-and-a-half – his RN Fitness Test.
he
Running a mile-and-a-half is one of fitness tests for all personnel and Andy’s age group – under 30s – must complete the distance in under 11 minutes 38 seconds. The last time he attempted the RNFT (from fresh) he scored eight minutes 15 seconds. So what after 36½ miles? A phenomenal ten minutes 35 seconds. Std Glynn guessed his
To Paris by bicycle
SEA CADET instructor Eon Matthews has completed at least 20 ‘Pedal to Paris’ charity rides from London to the French capital as a safety motorcycle outrider. But as a member of the RN
Cycling Association he always felt a twinge of envy as he watched over the cyclists speeding through 300 miles of beautiful countryside in Kent and Northern France. So this month he is swapping his motorbike for leg-power to try the route himself. Eon,
an instructor with
Newhaven and Seaford Sea Cadets and also a shipmate in the RNA, said: “I’ve been escorting the ‘Pedal to Paris’ ride for eight years, so last year I asked with a few others from the National Escort Group if we could enter a team ourselves.
“Our group consists of eight
riders from military and police backgrounds, all hoping to raise money for the Royal British Legion’s flagship charity bike ride.”
Eon added: “People sometimes tease me about ‘going on another holiday’ when I take part as a safety outrider.
“But although it’s physically easier doing the route on a motorbike,
mentally it’s much
more stressful, because you’re responsible for the cyclists all the time, and it can be quite draining.
“This time I hope all I have to do is pedal!” Eon’s hoping to raise about £1,000 for the Royal British Legion – to sponsor him, go to
www.bmycharity.com/v2/eon
time correctly and won £50. Andy commented: “The main challenge was the heat, and at one point I couldn’t drink enough water to combat how much I was sweating.
his bath on completion which, once the lads had filled it with ice, helped to cool things down a bit.” Andy managed to raise £1,000 for Naomi House – not to mention reinforcing the Ark’s reputation as the Navy’s fittest ship.
“The captain kindly lent me
Trophy Fund seeks trustee
THE Royal Navy Trophy Fund, a registered charity, is seeking applications from any serving warrant or chief petty offi cer who wishes to apply to be a volunteer trustee. The Trophy Fund exists to maintain, issue and account for all registered Naval trophies. Its aims and objectives are
achieved through a Board of Trustees, comprising three standing members – the Naval Base Commander Portsmouth, the Head of the Naval Historical Branch and the Base Logistics Commander (Portsmouth) – and two volunteer serving warrant officers or chief petty officers of any branch. The trustee is expected to
available on the Charity Commission website (www.
charity-commission.gov.uk) may give useful background – CC3 and CC3(a). If you would be interested in discussing the role with the outgoing incumbent WO D Goldie call 93832 8709. Applications should be submitted by letter to: Lt Cdr D A Costigan Secretary to the Trustees RN Trophy Centre Hardy Block HMS Nelson Portsmouth PO1 3HH. The closing date for
applications is September 30 2010.
Medics in motion
NAVAL Surg Cdr Ashvin Pimpalnerkar (Retd) and Surg Cdr Raj Shah raised more than £2,000 for Arthritis Research in a 8½ mile fun run in Sutton Coldfi eld, Birmingham. The Navy men were running in a group along with medical staff and patients from Good Hope Hospital.
■ SIX RN doctors and medics are carrying a stretcher from their base at the Institute of Naval Medicine, in Alverstoke, Gosport, to the National Memorial Arboretum in Lichfield, Staffordshire, a distance of 185 miles.
The team will set off on September 4, aiming to reach their destination in seven days to raise money for the RBL to help its work caring for service veterans. The event is called The Royal
attend two formal meetings each year, and to accept the legal responsibilities that come with the role. Two specific publications
Navy Medical Service’s Carry On Remembering. In tribute to Sir Lancelot Spratt, perhaps?
Ian tackles the Marines
CAREERS advisor Ian Hardcastle has helped many young men through the recruiting process to join the Royal Marines, and then kept up with their careers. When he wanted to support them by raising money for forces’ charities, Ian had a brainwave – why not try taking the tests himself? Ian, a CPO Careers Advisor in the Preston Armed Forces Careers’ Office, explained: “My job is to recruit and select suitable men to join the Marines, and part of this involves advising candidates about what is involved in the Potential Royal Marines Course (PRMC) and how to prepare for it. “How do I really know what it’s
like? For this reason I decided I had to give it a go.” So it was that at the tender age
of 45, conspicuously older than most of the 50 other potential recruits, Ian spent three days at
Lympstone doing three-mile timed runs, 60 press-ups in two minutes, 80 sit-ups in two minutes, assault courses, endurance courses and all the extras thrown in to determine his grit and suitability. At the end of the three days, Ian had not only raised £5,000 for the RM Charitable Trust and Help for Heroes, but passed the course – with a superior A grade. He said: “I was driven by three reasons – the first was to raise money for the charities, the second was to know more from a recruiting perspective, and the third was a personal one, to prove to myself that at 45 I’m still as fit and capable as I was when I was 25.”
He added: “I know I’m not, but I do believe age is not an excuse to let your physical well-being go down the pan.” To donate, go to www.
justgiving.com/ian-hardcastle
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