Apologies to all for not replying sooner. I have just infact got back from completeing the ride, all done in eleven days.
I am sorry that there have been problems with the link. It is posted on the army side of this site and works without any problem. I will add itn again here and will write out in full so if the link fails again anyone wishing to sponsor can simply copy and paste or type the address in to the address bar at the top of the page.
I read Lingyai's message asking about Combat Stress in the Gulf and found this an interesting discussion to start. When I was fundraising before the ride I was finding it incredibly hard to find sympathetic responses to my aims. Shockingly I found many servicemen and women who would ask why I was bothering to do something for Combat Stress, couldn't people just laugh off their experiences. Civvies would often say to me they would not support my cause for they believed servicemen and women know what they are signing up to......
My answer to them and as a response to Lingyai's question is the folllowing; You can train a human to soldier, you can train them to kill, jump out of aeroplanes do whatever it is to carry out their duties. What you can never do over short periods of time is train every human mind to accept acctions and visions all on the same level. That is to say that people react differently, this is what differentiates us as individuals. Some people feel like crying when they see a sad film, the very same people may laugh at a funeral. We all accept things in different ways. Thus Service personnel do the same and nobody will ever really know what triggers PTSD or depression from one man to another.
The British Military is increasingly finding itself in incredibly difficult circumstances. Ask anyone who witnessed the horrors of Ahmici and they will understand fully how people can suffer mentaly.
It is indeed very easy in barracks, surrounded by your mates to laugh things off, and asume an air of mental sterility. Once you have left the military and are a civilian this is often when problems arise and it is thus it takes on average 14 yrs of suffering before a serviceman/woman seeks psychologocal help.
Spare a thought now, in an age of incresed useage of the reserves. men and women who return from duty, hand their kit in to the stores and are expected to slip back in to the life of nine to five civy job and popping in to Tesco. Not an easy transformation to make.
It is for these reasons that Combat Stress has seen a marked increase in people turning to them for support. They work very closely and have a good relationship woth the MOD and other military organisations, but they need financial support to keep going, and as CS are currently taking on average 700 new patients each year you can see clearly and increase in funding needed.
And so to make a microscopic difference I decided to cycle the length of Britain, having had both my knees operated on last January. It was a hell of an effort, carrying all your kit etc, and one which I hope will be seen by all reading this as a worthwhile cause. I hope this post answers some of the questions raised.
Nick
www.justgiving.com/combatstresscycle
www dot justgiving dot com / combat stress cycle
