A great grandfather raises money for a veterans foster village by walking 500 miles during the summer months.
Retired Wing Commander David Forbes, 81, is committed to raising £ 500 for the Broughton House Veteran Care Village in Salford. Rain or shine, he can be seen pounding the streets around Helmshore, Rossendale, Lancashire.
He has covered 262 miles so far, an average of 4.5 miles a day, and plans to complete his mission by the end of August.
David has been a long-time Broughton House supporter and is heavily involved with a number of service organizations in the Northwest.
He is President of the Rochdale Branch of the Royal British Legion, Vice President of the Royal British Legion of Greater Manchester County, Founder and President of the Rochdale Veterans’ Breakfast Club, and President of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets of the Northern Region.
David, who has an MBE for his volunteer work with youth and charities, is also a retired deputy lieutenant for Greater Manchester. His involvement in the services dates back to 1954 when he joined the Air Training Corps, now known as the RAF Air Cadets.
Air Cadets usually raise money for Broughton House over the East Lancashire Railway weekend in the 1940s but were unable to do so this year due to Covid-19. David decided to take on his marathon challenge to make up for that and raised much-needed funding for the nursing home.
He said, “It is important to help local veterans and Broughton House is a fantastic place that offers great care and needs our support.”
Broughton House is currently undergoing a £ 13 million renovation to create the UK’s first Veterans Foster Village. The first phase of the renovation was completed last September when veterans moved into a new three-story building with 32 living and care beds on two floors.
The next phase of the program has begun and will include 32 residential and dementia care beds as well as six independent residential apartments next to an armed forces base. Broughton House plans to raise an additional £ 1.4 million to complete this phase of the project.
Laura Carr, fundraiser for communities and events at Broughton House, said, “We are incredibly happy and grateful to have the continued support of David who has been a long-standing advocate for Broughton House. We can’t thank him enough for traveling all these miles to raise money for our experienced residents. ”
You can support David’s fundraising mission by donating through https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-forbes9