{"id":239,"date":"2010-04-16T10:48:24","date_gmt":"2010-04-16T10:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forcespenpals.net\/p=?239"},"modified":"2010-04-16T10:48:24","modified_gmt":"2010-04-16T10:48:24","slug":"former-soldier-to-embark-on-gruelling-charity-trek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forcespenpals.net\/gb\/news\/former-soldier-to-embark-on-gruelling-charity-trek\/","title":{"rendered":"Former soldier to embark on gruelling charity trek"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&rsquo;s always nice to see former soldiers doing their bit for their comrades still serving on the frontline of Afghanistan. <\/p>\n<p>But one ex-member of the armed forces is showing troops just how valued they are by embarking on a gruelling 84-mile coast-to-coat trek to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity, The Gazette reports.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I served eight years in the forces and count myself lucky to have got out with all my fingers and toes,&quot; explains 29-year-old David Beech.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;This is our way of showing those still out there that we are thinking of them and supporting our troops.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The ex-soldier served in both Iraq and Afghanistan during his five years in the Parachute Regiment and three in the Special Forces Support Group.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Beech, alongside 19 other north-east based trekkers, will begin the challenge on June 4th and has pledged a personal fundraising target of &pound;2,000.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere in efforts to raise cash for Help for Heroes, sporty soldiers in Sheffield will be taking to the pitch on April 25th for a charity football match. <\/p>\n<p>Posted by Simon Williams<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"ADNFCR-2867-ID-19725081-ADNFCR\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.directnews.co.uk\/feedtrack\/justcopyright.gif?feedid=2867&amp;itemid=19725081\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An ex-soldier will complete an 84-mile coast-to-coast trek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former soldier to embark on gruelling charity trek - Forces Penpals GB<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/forcespenpals.net\/gb\/news\/former-soldier-to-embark-on-gruelling-charity-trek\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former soldier to embark on gruelling charity trek - Forces Penpals GB\" \/>\n<meta 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