A DISABLED veteran from Melksham has embarked on a 350-mile cycle ride to raise money for the charity Help for Heroes.
Local man John Marable, who earlier this year returned victorious from the Warrior Games in Chicago, USA, with a silver medal for swimming for the United Kingdom team, is cycling from Lille, France to Arnem, Netherlands, in the Big Battlefield Bike Ride.
This will be John’s 14th charity cycle since he began fundraising in 2010. “During this ride I will clock up my 4,000th charity cycling mile,” he said. “Since 2010 I have raised around £40,000 in total for Help for Heroes.”
For his latest fundraising adventure John has set himself a target of raising £3,000 and is already well on course, with nearly £2,200 pledged to his cause.
About the challenge ahead John said, “The route is fairly flat, so I feel that I am prepared for it. I am looking forward to meeting up with old friends who I have cycled with before and meeting new ones.
“These rides can be quite therapeutic for all of us as we can share our experiences from serving, and support each other.”
Riding alongside 200 other fundraisers, the route will roughly follow the 1944 route of the Allied Forces through the Low Countries towards Arnem.
In Arnhem, John and the team will get to see the annual commemoration of the parachute jump, something that has come to epitomise this period of military history.
John set off on his ride on Sunday 10th September and is scheduled to finish on Saturday 16th September. If you would like to support John please donate to his Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/fund raising/john-marable4
