Essex Auto Group Backs Help For Heroes Walk
On Friday morning 19th March, three serving members of the Royal Navy set off on a 125 mile walk from Wembley to Cardiff to raise money for Help for Heroes. Andy “Gibbo” Gibbs, Robert “Buster” Brown and Dave “DC” Chandler started their walk at Wembley Stadium and plan to arrive in Cardiff on the 24th March, averaging 35 miles per day. Their check points include Henley on Thames, Newbury, Swindon, Cheltenham and Monmouth and they will reach Cardiff Millennium Stadium on Thursday 24th.
The walk coincides with the England Vs Wales football match taking place at the Millennium Stadium on March 26th. Gibbs, Brown and Chandler are carrying the match ball with them and will be presenting it to the referee before kick-off in front of a sell-out crowd.
Essex Auto Group has provided the event organisers with a brand new Ford Galaxy in order to help them raise awareness en route. The vehicle, decorated with the trio’s names and their sponsors’ logos, was handed over to Group Marketing Director Matt Brown, who said “We were proud to get involved with [the Help for Heroes walk] as it supports a hugely worthwhile cause, which has been helping to develop and support a new Personnel Recovery Centre in our home county, Essex.”
Essex Auto Group also helped the officers by having a Facebook page and Twitter account set up for the event. Social media users can follow the trio as they walk and get all the latest updates on their progress.
The plan, according to Andy Gibbs, was hatched in the pub and will be a “walk in the park” compared to what other servicemen have gone through. "You just have to think about one of the double legged amputees and it just gives you the get up and go in the morning,” he says. “If you think your life is rubbish you just need to look at what they're going through and you just get on with it.”
Help for Heroes works alongside the Armed Forces and other service charities to help forces personnel who are ill or have been wounded move into the next phase of their lives. The Personnel Recovery Centres offer learning facilities and support for those injured in the line of duty.
