Falklands veteran and friends raise over £900 with Falklands 40 Challenge

A Falklands veteran and a group of friends have raised over £900 after completing the Falklands 40 Challenge for the Royal British Legion Industries.

Veteran Dave Devlin, 58, was joined by Jo Nixon, Jodie Rowland and Brett Doherty in covering 40 miles to raise money for fellow Falklands veterans.

The group set off from Dave’s home in Shawforth, Whitworth, at 4.45am on Saturday morning (14 May), walking 40 miles towards Blackpool. Dave and Brett completed the full 40 whilst Jo and Jodie managed to complete 35 miles.

Dave, who was 18 when he went to the Falklands as part of the Royal Naval party on ships taken up from trade (STUFT), said he had been “flicking through Facebook” when he stumbled across the challenge.

He said: “My original idea was to walk from my house to Rochdale and back five times, but I thought that might get a bit boring, so I thought I’d see what the distance is to Blackpool.

“I was going to do the walk on my own, but Jo and the others decided to join in, providing company and motivation; we had a laugh. It was enjoyable after the first 10 miles, but it was gruelling. It’s all worth it though for such a good cause. I’ll be chuffed if we can manage to raise £1,000.”

 

 

Dave added that some participants have opted to cover 255 miles – one mile for each British life lost in the 1982 war – and is going to try and get some more miles covered to get as close as possible to the 255 figure.

The Falklands 40 Challenge sees participants cover 40 miles during the month of May in support of the Falklands War veterans. Many returned to civilian life, some with physical wounds from battle, and many in need of help to live fulfilled independent lives.

The Falklands War was a 74-day undeclared conflict between the UK and Argentina over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependencies, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

The conflict ended when Argentina surrendered on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 907 lives were lost during the conflict, including 255 British personnel.

Today, the islands are British overseas territories under the protection of British Forces South Atlantic Islands.

Donations can still be made via JustGiving.