Ex-soldier from Llandudno treks 2,500 miles for Help for Heroes

Mar 4 2010 by Eva Ketley, North Wales Weekly News

Ex-soldier treks 2,500 miles for Help for Heroes

A FORMER soldier has embarked on a 2,500 mile marathon trek to raise money for Help for Heroes.

Lee Corbett, 30, from Llandudno, who served in the 1st Staffordshire Regiment, hopes to raise thousands of pounds for the charity which helps wounded service personnel.

“I’m fortunate that I wasn’t injured during my service, but I want to do my bit to help those who are returning wounded from Afghanistan and Iraq,” he explained.

On Monday, he and friend Jonathan Kelsall, 28, who is also from Llandudno, set off from the bandstand on Llandudno promenade.

They plan to walk the length of the Welsh coastline, then around the coast of Southern England to Essex from where they will catch a train to Liverpool and then walk back to Llandudno.

Lee, a gardener at Llandudno’s Loreto Convent in Abbey Road, is appealing for a major sponsor to come forward.

He said: “I chose this charity because when I first started putting the walk together I didn’t think the British public was as behind our boys as they could have been.

“It’s not about whether they should be there or not, it’s about backing them when they come home. I still have friends in the forces.”

Lee, who served as a private and did tours of duty in Kenya and Northern Ireland is planning to cover around 30 miles a day and hopes to complete the trek within 100 days.

“I’ve been training in the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“And on Tuesdays and Thursdays I walk 20 miles – five times round the Great Orme,” he said.

“Blisters will also be one of the main problems, but I will do what we did in the Army – bind them up in zinc oxide tape so they can’t get any more rubbing.”

The Chatsworth House Hotel in Llandudno has already pledged to help him with proceeds from the hotel’s Christmas and New Year raffles going to help Lee’s cause.

The Help for Heroes charity was launched in 2007 to raise money for wounded soldiers. It has collected £34 million so far.

judith.phillips