Details to follow – please click here for the website

Details to follow – please click here for the website

Details to follow – click here for the website.

The Run

This year the Baton Run to the National Memorial Arboretum Lichfield will start from RAF Brize Norton 7:30 pm on the 5th November, running approximately 100 miles through the night to arrive at the NMA as near to midday on the 6th as possible.  This is no walk in the park and any money raised will be well earned.

To see the Run Route please click here and support the team if they are running near to where you live, come the morning they will need it!

The reasons for the run are -

• There can’t be a better point to start than the gateway to Afghanistan, where amongst normal traffic sadly repatriations are made.
• A large part of the Baton’s cause is to remind us all to Remember the effects of service life, not just on the serving person but also on their family and friends, all will carry memories forever.
• Running a week before our Remembrance weekend
• To our national place of memorial where we Remember all the serving personnel lost since the end of World War 2 – over 16,000 names are carved in the walls there

At RAF Brize Norton the team will have the pleasure of handing over a cheque to an appropriate RAF charity for £1,000 and when reaching the NMA the team will also handover a cheque there for at least £500.

Taunton Sea Cadets will be at the NMA, as last year to provide a Guard of Honour for the team as they run up into the main memorial, which is always an emotional moment.  We would really like to see other forces cadets join them, especially if they haven’t been to our national place of memorial before as they can learn so much from the visit.

To sponsor the team on their through the night effort please click here.

BLOG

If you would like to follow the Event BLOG please click here.

We are also tweeting through the night following the runners, to see more please visit us on Twitter – thebastionbaton.

Photos on the BLOG of the night run can be seen here.

News & Media

To download a Press Release for the event please click Brize Norton to NMA Press Release

To listen to a British Forces Broadcasting Station (BFBS) Interview with Suzanne Dando (Trustee) on the upcoming run please click here.

To watch an interview with Alan Rowe, MBE, Founder of The Baton and Suzanne Dando, Trustee of The Baton talking about the run please click here.

To watch the run through the night from WitneyTV please click here.

Sponsors of The Run

Our sincere and grateful thanks to the following companies for their invaluable support of the run….

 Harts of Honiton

Otter Windows

Denhay

AG Signs

Suzanne Joins The Team

As well as our regular runners we are delighted to have two new Baton Trustees on the team, Suzanne Dando and her husband Adam Reynolds.

Many will remember that Suzanne made her name through the sport of Gymnastics.  She achieved the highest accolade by representing her country in the Moscow Olympic Games, former Olympic Gymnast and British Gymnastic Champion, Suzanne has gone on to a successful career in television, theatre and the media.

Suzanne has been very supportive of the Baton and its message since she organised and carried the Baton on the Remembrance Expedition in honour of a truly great lady, Nancy Wake.

DAUNTLESS Division are a Division of Royal Naval Officer Cadets, who are currently undergoing fleet training on HMS Albion.  The 14 members of the Division, with their Division Officer will be running the Plymouth 10k on Sunday 6th November carrying the Baton and its message.

These are young people training to carry on the great traditions of our Royal Navy, who in time the country will rely on, with others, to protect the many freedoms we enjoy, if you see them give them a cheer!

If you would like to sponsor DAUNTLESS Division please click here.

Left to right: (all Rank of Officer Cadet)

Mark Heller, Ali Al Rahbi, Will Payling, Edem Akati, Debbie Harmer, Simon Holden, Luke Fisher, Chris Cowan, Andy Osborne, Andy Warwick, Alan Morrison, Christian Lowe, Adam Thompson, Owen Sands.

The Divisional Officer British Army, Captain Shane Green of the Mercian Regiment, will be running too.

The evening is started with a comprehensive lecture from a senior dignitary about matters of Naval importance.  Once this is complete the guests of the Hudson committee are invited to attend the ‘Hudson dinner’ at one of the colleges in Oxford University.

History of the Hudson fund: Oxford University accepted, with gratitude, the bequest by the late Mr Richard Guy Ormonde Hudson, DSC, of one-third of the residue of his estate to establish a fund to be known as the Guy Hudson Memorial Fund, the net income from which shall be used for the education of officers of the Royal Navy or Royal Marines at the University.  The bequest currently funds the ‘Hudson Fellow’, a research fellow at St Anthony’s college and also a number of projects throughout the academic year.  Recent events have included conferences, lectures and more diverse projects such as leadership development for URNU Midshipmen.

The Oxford Royal Naval Unit has the pleasure of arranging this event and has requested the honour of having ‘the baton’ on the table as focal point and to get one of the senior military personnel to read the message that the baton holds.

If you have any queries or need additional information about the Hudson Trust of Oxford University Royal Naval Unit please contact CPO Gary Maskell on 01865 255330 or email on Urnu-oxford-cpo@mod.uk

An example of pride, fortitude and tremendous spirit.  Stephan, Sadie and Kevin will be carrying the Baton throughout this very personal challenge, please reflect for a moment that the Baton may well have come from a stretcher that Stephan carried across the battlefield, doing his job, supporting his comrades, please read the write up below by Stephan’s wife Sadie.

“My husband (Stephan) served with 3 Rifles and suffered horrendous life-changing injuries while in Afghanistan in 2009.  He has had to adapt to life not only as a young man, but as a father as well after I gave birth to our daughter in 2010.  Kevin (our friend) served with Stephan in 3 Rifles for 8 years, 3 of those as the company medic, where he has had to deal with some dreadful scenarios.

Stephan’s fighting spirit and others in similar situations have given Kevin and I the inspiration to help raise money for the charities who help people like Stephan, and anyone else who has been affected by war.

Unfortuntely many do not come home and it is their families’ who will need the support to fight on.  Not only that but support is often needed for the soldiers who haven’t suffered physical injuries and need someone to talk to regarding the things they have seen and tasks they have carried out.

Raising money helps provide much needed physical and emotional support as well as enhancing lives which have become so difficult.  Kev and I are organising a sponsored 15 mile Horse Ride which will be along the heritage Derwent Valley walk.  It will test Kev’s ability to ride as it’s a new hobby he’s not long taken up.

Our aim is to raise money for Care for Casualties which is a Rifles Regiment charity.  Our current target is £2000 but we hope to increase that. The money you donate will go straight to Care for Casualties charity.  So please donate to help make a difference.”

Sadie Van Niekerke

Please consider sponsoring Steph, Sadie and Kev by clicking here.

The first time that a Baton has been carried on the famous Commando Challenge!

Alan will be at the Commando Challenge on the day to hand the Baton to teacher Judith Rich and 7 Sixth Form students of Plymstock School Plymouth, who are taking on the 2011 10k Commando Challenge.  All at the Baton are delighted to see young people challenging themselves, at the same time promoting the Baton’s message, we wish the team the best of luck on the day.

This year the Commando Challenge is raising money for the Devon Air Ambulance and The C Group, a Royal Marine Charity charities that the school is pleased to support.

If you would like to sponsor the team please click here.

Alan Rowe MBE handing the Baton over to teacher Judith Rich and some of the students doing the Commando Challenge.

A candle for every military life lost over the past 10 years in Afghanistan

This DecAid service for the 10th Anniversary of the conflict in Afghanistan will begin with a short tri-service parade to one of Britain’s most spectacular cathedrals where the service will then be held.  During the service a candle will be lit for every serviceman or woman who has lost their life in Afghanistan over the past 10 years.

For more information or to get involved please visit the Event site here.

About DecAid

DecAid is a national appeal set up with three main aims.  Firstly, to increase awareness, particularly among younger members of the UK population, of the work and involvement of the Armed Forces in Afghanistan.  Secondly, to remember those brave men and women of our Armed forces who have lost their lives serving in Afghanistan.  Thirdly, to raise over £350,000 for three service charities which work to help current and ex-servicemen and women, and their families, who have been affected by the war in Afghanistan.

To achieve this, DecAid is organising a series of six events which will be held during the summer of 2011.  These will include physical challenges such as ‘The Munro Mission’ and the ‘Ride 2 Remember’ as well as a publicity event in Edinburgh and a Memorial Service.  The money raised by all these events will be divided between three service charities: SSAFA Forces Help, BLESMA and Talking2Minds.

A central part of all of the events will be the involvement of wounded soldiers and families who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan. The DecAid team will try, wherever possible, to involve them in the events.

The DecAid Team are all current or former members of Exeter University Officer Training Corps (EUOTC) which draws its membership from Exeter and Plymouth Universities.  They are all under the age of 25 and passionate about the cause.  None of them are paid for their work and most of them have been working with DecAid whilst juggling their degrees at the same time.

The Baton is proud to be a part of these events.

Alan is seen handing the Baton to Judy Gaden a very special lady who lost her son Cpl Tom Gaden of 1 Rifles in action 25th February 2009.

The effect of the loss of a family member in action is a large part of the Baton’s cause, never over after the last shot is fired or the last aircraft leaves for the UK, it is for life for so many and we should never forget it.

“The ride to Wootton Bassett on the 1st Oct 2011 is a personal tribute to the town from us as a family for Tom’s repatriation.  We arranged for 50 bikers to accompany us on the ride, and will be presenting his Worship the Mayor with a quilted wall hanging to commemorate the event.  We wanted to mark the occasion of the closing of RAF Lyneham as an operational airbase and the end of an era for the town of Wootton Bassett for repatriations of our fallen service personnel.   The Baton is a significant part of that tribute, as it denotes, in the same way, the sad losses, and the connotations of the stretcher handle are not lost.   The message is alive, and we must keep it that way.”

Judy Gaden