ON THEIR WAY AGAIN

The good news is that the Row to Recovery have at last been resupplied with water by the Aurora.  What a relief!  They then had a problem with the rudder, so if it isn't one thing its another.  That's been solved more or less and they are rowing again which is great news.  They are all in remarkable heart and this clip from their web site says it all:
’We’ve just passed through 500 nautical miles to go to Barbados and I cannot tell you how much of a lift that has given to all of us. I also really want to say just how amazing it is to be told of all the support and interest we are generating back home, it means so much to every single member of this crew.

To hear that the fundraising has also been boosted as a result the difficulties we’ve been experiencing also makes it easier to cope with.

I really can’t tell you how much it means to us to know that what we are doing out here is in some small way inspiring people back home and encouraging people to give money to our cause. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We are not out of the woods yet. After all the problems we’ve had so far it seems inconceivable that the rest of the trip will be plain sailing.

But one thing is for sure, our resolve to succeed remains undiminished, despite the seemingly endless technical problems we’ve encountered.

You have my word, this team will not give up. Wish us luck!s luck!

FLIGHT TO CAMP BASTION...........

On Monday I attended the launch of new information screens at RAF Brize Norton. They had been designed and paid for by Thales and very smart they are. What is noteworthy is that this project has been completed in partnership with the three single service charities. I nearly got put on a flight to Helmand but the pinstripe didn't look quite right!

GREAT MAN DEPARTS

On Friday I went to the funeral of Bishop Michael Mann, a soldier, historian and eminent priest. He loyally supported The British Legion, St Dunstans (he became blind towards the end of his life) and ABF. Living as he did in Gloucetershire I was able to seek his advice on many matters. In 2004 he helped enormously over the 60th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service and suggested we had a passage from George MacDonald Fraser's book "Quartered Safe Out Here". George came down to read it himself. It was a coup. We always remember that he lost his son, killed in action in Oman in the 70s. He was a wonderful man and a sad loss.

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE

Whilst we were enjoying War Horse and all the other things we have had to day including that nice drink at the end of the day, think of those poor sods in the mid atlantic with virtually no water.  Theor relief ship, the Aurora does not reach them till Sunday several days later than planned when their water desalination kit broke down.  But clearly their morale is bearing up judging by yesterdays bulletin which I repeat here..

We are still on two litres of water each at the moment which is causing some discomfort for all of us.
The fact we can’t rehydrate any of our food means we are only taking on around 2000 calories per day, while burning more like 5-6,000 so the weight continues to fall off.
I had some muesli this morning which at the start of the race I thought was disgusting. Today it tasted like the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.
Our dreams are also getting weirder. It’s a regular thing now to get woken up 15 minutes before the shift starts only to be convinced you’ve been rowing for the past two hours.
It’s also seriously hot so we’re just kind of lolling around trying to stay cool during the day time. Whenever a cloud comes across to block out the sun it’s a blessed relief.
So, to sum up, we’re hungry, thirsty and bored. We’re going nowhere and we’re overheating.
Miserable? Not a bit of it. This campaign is about overcoming adversity, inspiring our wounded friends and their families, and raising £1million for service charities. This may be an uncomfortable situation, but it is not life threatening, and we remain determined to complete our mission.
If you want to help us……please donate to the cause! Thank you so much for your continued interest in what we’re doing. We’ll be in touch soon.

GEORDIE WAR HORSE

Well we were all very lucky to attend a preview showing of War Horse on Tuesday night.  Its a fantastic film and really well produced.  The photography is sensational and its a great story with the odd tear moment.  We had 80 in the auditorium with Fern Brittain, Kate Humble and Ben Fogle keeping us company. But we nearly had another War!  I thought all Geordies liked each other but apparently not all is sweetness and light between one part of Newcastle and another.  So here we  have Kirsty who organised this great night from one part of "toon" and Guardsman Fergusson otherwise known as "Gazza" from another. But they have made up and look happy enough. "Gazza" is currently at Headley Court  A great evening for many of our supporters and soldiers 

WAR HORSE NONSENSE

We have been given 80 seats for a preview of Stephen Spielberg's film WAR HORSE.  So we have invited the 80 lucky soldiers, veterans and beneficiaries by e-mail.  To do this we decided to do a video of me inviting them to the event.  We did this at Knightsbridge Barracks with a horse called Hope joining me.  There are two versions the funny one 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Y4UrQ-M-k  and the final version which is not so amusing!!
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?f0f022750c6c4e91773cceb83&id=485b247b9e&e=907ff06cd0

THANKS SOLDIER

This is the result of our recent campaign to thank the ordinary soldier.  We asked our Facebook fraternity to put their faces on the Union Flag image which we then had reflected onto the White Cliffs of Dover on December 27th. We attracted 6,000 good folk who clearly appreciate what our soldiers do for the nation.