In honour of the 80th Anniversary of VE Day on Thursday 8 May, two local Armed Forces veterans of 30 years will be taking on a challenging 80km cycle ride from St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey to fundraise for activities that support ex-servicemen and women at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Veterans, Fraser Dryburgh and Graham Izzard, are cycling to raise awareness of the benefits veterans can receive. Fraser Dryburgh, who served for 30 years in the Royal Artillery with tours in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and time spent as a Senior Instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, said:, “People’s donations will directly benefit our veterans of WW2 and their families, helping provide services, care and resources. The trust will use these funds to further support the local veteran community with activities like the monthly Veteran’s Breakfast Club held at St Peter’s Hospital. This gives anyone that has served in the Armed Forces space to encourage socialising and discussions around the particular healthcare challenges faced by this community.”
Kathryn Moore, Head of the Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals’ Charity, added: “We are really thankful to Fraser and Graham who are taking on this challenge on behalf of the charity. We’d love the support of local people on the day, whether it is waving them off or donating to the charity which will go towards activities to support this important community.” Fraser and Graham will depart from the main reception of St Peter’s Hospital at 9.30am and will return to a warm welcome at 2pm. If you would like to sponsor our cyclists, please visit the ASPH Charity’s fundraising pages for Fraser and Graham.
The fundraising cycle is one of many activities taking place to commemorate VE Day at the trust on Thursday 8 May. A Victory Celebratory Ceremony will take place at 11am at Ashford Hospital and 2.30pm outside the main entrance of St Peter’s Hospital for all to attend as well as activities across the day including a fundraising cake sale with proceeds going towards future activities for the trust’s Armed Forces community, afternoon tea for patients on the wards, war time music performances and themed art activities for children.
Photo: Local veteran Fraser Dryburgh pictured outside St Peter’s Hospital, and will be cycling 80km on VE Day to raise funds for Armed Forces activities at the Trust.
