Freddie Rider - Bruce 2007

by Freddie Rider

This June, along with a fellow student at Aberystwyth University and around 150 other members of Wales Universities' Officer Training Corps, I will set out on a gruelling challenge to raise money for 3 charities. The event is called Dragon Relay 2010 and takes the form of a 284 mile run around Wales. The route begins in Wrexham and weaves its way south stopping at 8 locations before finishing in Cardiff. The route will take 9 days to complete and will be run as a relay by members of Wales Universities' Officer Training Corps. The runners will carry with them the Bastion Baton, the handle from a stretcher used in Afghanistan to carry wounded soldiers to safety. Beside the relay Tom Limb and I, the two organisers, will run the entire 284 miles. This will be a punishing average of 31.5 miles a day.

More importantly however the whole event is to raise money for three extremely worthwhile charities: Help For Heroes, The Soldiers' Charity and Child Action Nepal. The first two of these do excellent work with the servicemen and women who have been injured whilst serving their country. Their work is invaluable and without it many would never receive the help and support they not only need but also deserve. Child Action Nepal is a much smaller charity that caught our eye for several reasons. Firstly Nepal is a country Tom and I have a keen interest in as we are both outdoor enthusiasts. Furthermore with an increasingly globalised world, states like Nepal with such a turbulent recent history are at risk of being left behind. Child Action Nepal runs small orphanages in Nepal that offer the children a good education, a loving home and the opportunity to go on to university and work. Our fundraising target is £10,000 which will then be split equally between the three charities. Child Action Nepal have already informed us that if we reach this target they will use the money to buy a generator for their newest orphanage as in Nepal there are power cuts for over 16 hours every day.

I personally feel Gordonstoun gave me the skills and attitude that make this sort of challenge possible. The Four Pillars I learnt while at school (Internationalism, Challenge, Responsibility and Service) I think form the basis for this event and I think it demonstrates an element of each one. To find out how you can get involved and help us on our way please check out our website at www.dragonrelay.com or contact us at dragonrelay@gmail.com

May 2010