Platoon to crawl 40 miles through the night to support West Sussex charity
On Friday, May 31, the 35 Platoon will attempt to Leopard Crawl a total of 64km (40 miles) for to raise money for a number of causes.
The reason behind crawling the 64km is to mark the front help by British troops during the Korean War – later to be known as the Battle of the Imjin River.
From the 22nd to the 25th of April, 1951, the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, The Gloucestershire Regiment and the Royal Ulster Rifles defended a 64km front, with over 300,000 attacking Chinese troops.
Despite being incredibly outnumbered to the superior enemy, the British held its position for 3 days. From then on, this battle remains an important part of British Military tradition and history.
The challenge will last for 24 hours and is set to take place at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. THINK18, a charity based in Chichester, will receive one-third of all donations raised for the troops participating in this challenge.
THINK18 promotes the social inclusion of young people and adults (aged 16-35) with moderate to severe learning difficulties. They provide a safe environment for all young adults to try exciting, new activities to enjoy with their newly made friends and create a great community.
They run workshops, social excursions, wellbeing days, Active Saturdays and Sundays, seven Zoom sessions a week, and have innovative activities for all young adults with these difficulties to get involved with.
Founder of the Charity Tessa Denison said: “I’m absolutely blown away. It opened my eyes into what they do at the army, it’s incredibly moving to think of those young lads are doing it partly to help our West Sussex charity which is extraordinary.
“It’s an honour and we want it to get as much coverage as possible and raise awareness for our THINK18 Charity. It means so much to me.”
Ollie Greenwood, who’s taking part in the challenge said: “It’s a great opportunity for Sandhurst to reach out and help the community. To complete it would mean a lot for the platoon.
"Physically it will be demanding but nothing we aren’t used to with our training, it will be the mental side of crawling through the night that will be more of a challenge and it’s a real privilege to do it among my peers who we are going through the arduous course of Sandhurst with.
The JustGiving link is: https://www.justgiving.com/page/ollie-greenwood-1714812905279