Military veterans march from Rochdale to Blackpool to raise funds for PTSD counselling

A dozen members of the Rochdale AFC Military Veterans, along with supporters from Their4U Fundraising and the Dale In The Community Sports Trust, will depart from the Crown Oil Arena at 5am with the aim of arriving at the famous Blackpool Tower by 7.30pm.

The fourteen and a half hour sponsored walk is raising money for the group, which provides Rochdale vets with mental health help, sports activities, day trips, and financial support.

Adam Trennery, a former Royal Navy engineer and manager of Rochdale AFC Military Veterans, said: “I try to hold three or four different charity events each year for different charities, like local hospices and SSAFA (the Armed Forces charity), but this year we wanted to do it for more personal reasons.

"Quite a few of the lads have PTSD from their time in the military, so we want to fund courses to address their mental wellbeing. We wanted to do something outside the box that not a lot of other people have done. We wanted to do something different.”

An online fundraiser set up by the group has already raised £1,145.

Adam said: “We wanted to raise £1,000, and we’ve have smashed that already. By Saturday night, we want to reach £2,000 if we can.

"There’s quite a few military veterans suffering from mental health problems, PTSD and anxiety from their time in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has a big impact on relationships. Our main aim is we want them to reach out so we can sit down with them and talk. At the moment, there’s not a lot of people they can talk to who understand. They keep their cards close to their chests.

"Sometimes they don’t want to get involved with society because they’re outside of that army family. That’s why we want to fund these courses and even set up little groups and coffee mornings, just to get them talking.

"Blackpool is a prime location, everyone knows the Tower so we thought it was the perfect landmark to aim for.”

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