New Milton veterans cross the line for 1,000-mile charity challenge

IT was mission accomplished for amputee veterans from a New Milton charity who smashed an epic 1,000-mile cycle ride in just 13 days.

Ten members of the Pilgrim Bandits rode from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise awareness for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) as one of their team-mates, firefighter John Chart (49), has been diagnosed with the condition.

The charity sets injured service and emergency personnel, many of whom are amputees or have PTSD, gruelling expeditions. Its motto is “Always A Little Further”.

This expedition was no different as the 10 used push and hand bikes and specially adapted tandems to cycling 80 miles a day.

Another rider was Pilgrim Bandits patron and former Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson, one of the most seriously injured to survive the battlefield.

He lost both legs and suffered brain damage while serving in Afghanistan in 2006 and was not expected to survive.

Ben rode a tandem with Pilgrim Bandits CEO Matt Hellyer, and said he trained "very hard" but describing the challenge as "a walk in the park" compared to his previous challenges – including the Yukon River in Canada and the charity’s winter survival course in Sweden,

"It's been a long time in lockdown and I hadn’t seen anybody for months – I couldn’t wait to be part of the team again,” Ben said.

“There's always someone struggling and this was my chance to support John to get him on his way.”

Matt, who led the trek, added: “We started out at John O’Groats and we had the most beautiful weather following us all along the country. We smashed Scotland bang on time and we had mileage in the bag – it got tougher as we continued on through the rain this week, but we kept on going.

“We will also take some very special memories of the trip with us, including stopping off at memorials, cathedrals and key military landmarks along the way, paying our respects to our fallen comrades.”

He added: “We’ve gained some fantastic support along the way, extra team members joined us throughout as well, and we’re all going to continue to support John and his family through these hard times.”

A fatal and incurable neurodegenerative disease, MND carries a life expectancy of three to five years. Six people a week die from the condition and another six are diagnosed.

As a firefighter for 26 years, John was “devastated” by the diagnosis but determined to fight it and used a specially adapted tandem throughout the challenge. He was joined along the way by his 14-year-old son Christopher and wife Arlene.

The operation was also supported by military charity Vetrun180. Volunteers from Vetrun180, who are injured veterans themselves, organised the logistics including food and setting up camp for the riders.