The Airborne Forces Security Fund is again making a grant available to veterans of the Battle of Normandy to assist with the cost of their commemorative trip in June 2019. The grant is £680 for a veteran, £680 for his wife or partner and £680 if a carer is needed. The maximum grant is therefore £2,040.

Please complete the application form, 2019 Normandy Reimbursement Claim Form, and send together with a copy of travel documents e.g. ferry or hotel booking, to:

Robert Airey
RHQ PARA
Merville Barracks
Colchester
Essex
CO2 7UT

For all enquiries please contact: robert.airey100@mod.gov.uk

Are you looking for a new challenge this Autumn? Then look no further than the PARAS’10!

PARAS’10 is a 10 mile endurance race based on an event recruits must pass before they can join The Parachute Regiment. The 10 miler is carried out over undulating terrain and recruits must TAB (Tactical Advance to Battle) the distance in full kit, including helmet, with a 35lb bergan plus water and a weapon. They must complete this in 1 hour 50 minutes in order to pass and it is this event that forms the basis of the PARAS’10.

The next event will be in Catterick, North Yorkshire on Sunday 16 September 2018. Check out the video below for an idea of what you can expect.

The PARAS’10 is regarded as The Ultimate 10 Mile Endurance Race and is managed by the charity SUPPORT OUR PARAS and serving soldiers of The Parachute Regiment, giving our entrants a unique military experience.

We organise and run two events a year, one in Colchester and one in Catterick. Entrants can choose to run or TAB the course with a 35lb bergan (no helmets or weapons though!) and there is even the option to run with your dog.

For more information about the events, or to sign up, please visit the PARAS’10 website or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This season, the Mayan 7s Rugby Team are raising money and awareness of the charity, while winning trophies along the way!

This summer sees the inaugural season of the Mayans 7s team who have chosen to support us due to the fact their captain, John, was a PARA. They said, “This is a charity that does fantastic work in a much needed area of society that receives little support otherwise.”

The team is playing 8 tournaments in all which will see them spend their summer touring the country. They even came to Colchester in May to run the PARAS’10 (a day after playing the Basingstoke 7s!)

To show the Mayans your support, please visit their fundraising page.

A big thank you to all the guys and girls involved and good luck for the rest of the season! Keep your eyes out for their awesome shirts this summer (with our logo proudly featured) and give them a shout if you see them about.

For more information about the Mayans, or to keep up to date with how they get on this season, check out their social media pages:

Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

Colchester based Para Cpl Hyde is currently taking on the Amazon rainforest in a bid to raise £10,000 for the charity.

Cpl Antony ‘Herbie’ Hyde signed up to take part in the Jungle Ultra Marathon, which will seem him travel 230km in just 7 days. The event takes place in the Manu National Park, deep in the Amazon rainforest, Peru.

The course will see Herbie travel from the Andes mountains to the Madre di Dios river, with temperatures reaching 30 degrees during the day and then dropping to 10 degrees at night.

Race participants must be self-sufficient, which means Herbie will be responsible for carrying his entire kit, including food (a minimum of 2,000 calories a day), safety equipment and a minimum of 2.5 litres of water which he can refill at checkpoints along the way.

Cpl Hyde has been training for the last 6 months to prepare for the event and continues to push himself. He says, “This is a massive achievement and goal for me,  but most importantly I am doing this to raise as much money as possible for this great Charity, Support Our Paras. ”

Herbie has chosen to raise an ambitious target of £10,000 and is already almost half way there! You can support him by visiting his fundraising page here.

We are delighted to tell you that brave little Breya has been accepted for her vaccine treatment in New York. She has smashed all the scans needed to show she is good to go, including one where she had to lie still for a whole 20 minutes. She will be on a plane as soon as she can.

So many amazing people have helped Breya and her parents with their love, support and the funds they have raised. Your generosity is astonishing and appreciated more than you can know. Thank you.

Solving Kids Cancer, a registered charity which specialises in neuroblastoma, will be taking special care of them through this treatment stage. You can find more about their work here https://solvingkidscancer.org.uk/ But we will all be watching out for Breya as she takes this next big step to recovery.