A team of 20 soldiers from a Rutland based regiment have completed a gruelling 546 mile cycle ride home from Hohne, Germany, in just 5 and a half days, while raising over £9,000 for Blesma, The Limbless Veterans.

Major Stuart Irvine, Second in Command of the 2 Medical Regiment, started planning the challenge in January 2015 to mark the regiment’s relocation from its current base in Hohne, Germany, to St George Barracks, North Luffenham.

The team – who burned off a total of 17,293 each on the challenge - set off from Hohne on the 29^th of June 2015 and rode through Lubbecke and Dulmen, in Germany, to arrive in Arnhem, in the Netherlands, 300-miles later. The team then headed to Rotterdam to catch the ferry across to Hull, before setting off for Leicester. On the final day, they were joined by their Commanding Officer, and were escorted to St George Barracks by cyclists from the Velo Club Rutland.  They were welcomed by friends and family as they crossed the finish line, and were greeted by the High Sheriff of Rutland and the Chief Executive of Rutland County Council plus by representatives from the charity, Blesma.

Jenny Long, the regiments Press Officer said the event was a ‘blast’, and the team ‘gelled amazingly, never to falter in light of increasing temperatures or distances’.  

Jenny said, ‘Everybody did the best that they could and supported each other along the way. It is not unusual to see tiredness affect people negatively which is understandable, but besides tired faces and tired legs you could see the strength of morale and team ethos hold firm throughout the week.’

Major Irvine who led the team throughout the challenge said, ‘Every member of the 2 Med Cycling Team is enormously proud of the achievement and we now have some great after dinner tales to tell. We chose Blesma because, as a Medical Regiment, we have almost all seen at first hand the devastating effects of war. Many of the cyclists have been called on to perform lifesaving interventions to their fellow soldiers after horrific traumatic events - it was only right therefore that we were able to give back to the Blesma members in the best way we knew - through fundraising. The quality of life which Blesma can offer to those who have lost limbs in the service of the country is nothing short of breath-taking and it is only possible through funding such as ours.’

So far, the team have collectively raised over £9,000 but you can still donate by visiting the team’s JustGiving page http://www.justgiving.com/teams/2MedCyclists

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless service men and women, their widows and dependants. It was formed in the years following the First World War and became a national charity in 1932.

If you are interested in running your own fundraising event, contact the fundraising team on 0208 590 1124 or email fundraising@blesma.org

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Hi-res images can be downloaded from the links below: /media/330498/cheque-2.jpg

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