The sun shined bright down on the Jurassic Coast as one hundred and fifty veterans and supporters gathered for their epic fifty-mile march, raising much needed funds for The Rifles Charities – Care for Casualties, supporting veterans suffering with PTSD.

Local veteran, Paul Thorner and Paulton Councillor, Grant Johnson set off from Lulworth Cove on Friday, 17th September for their three-day march that would take in the beautiful scenery of the south coast, ending at the RNLI station in Lyme Regis.

After months of fundraising, Paul and Sharon Thorner managed to raise a huge £6,821 and counting, which included lots of support and sponsorship from local businesses from across the area, as well as individual donations. On top of this, Grant Johnson also raised a further £800 from his own JustGiving page.

After recovering from the walk, Paul Thorner had this to say: “I’d just like to thank everyone that has supported me to achieve such a great sum for a really important cause.

“We had loads of support along the walk, which made it that much easier to keep going, especially over some of the extremely steep cliffs we had to climb.”

Cllr Johnson said he was proud to join veterans for the March, he said: “All too often we hear about veterans who have given so much for their country sadly taking their own lives. I’m proud to have taken part in this march and to have met such an incredible group of people who really care about supporting their fellow service personnel.

“Despite the sunburn on the back of my legs, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”

Once all the walkers had gathered at Lyme Regis Football Club, they then marched en masse down to the RNLI station, which is situated next to the famous Cob. At the station there was a medal giving ceremony and speeches from local dignitaries, with Paul Cocoran presenting Paul and Sharon Thorner with a replica bugle trophy in recognition of all the work they put in to organise the event and raising much needed funds.

Sharon said: “It was so touching to be recognised with such a wonderful trophy, but we don’t do it for that, we do it for our veterans who need the support and funds to get the help they need.

“I’m pleased to say that we are hopeful of getting to a grand total of £100,000, after all the collection boxes are counted and JustGiving pages added up.”

If you would like to donate, go to the JustGiving website and search either Paul or Grant’s name and their pages will come up.