Nigel’s Walk a Mile Fundraising!

Some of you may know Nigel and his wife, Karen, who visit us here at Woody’s Lodge regularly. Nigel had a full career as a Traffic Motorcyclist and Firearms Officer. However, their lives were completely changed forever when Nigel was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis in 2012. 

Ever since, he has slowly been losing the ability to move. Nigel continued to work until he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015. After a particularly bad year, but successfully battling cancer with radiotherapy, Nigel and Karen became aware that their lives had shrunk, and they were no longer going out on a regular basis. Which is when they found us at Woody’s Lodge! 

Before the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown, Woody’s Lodge had become the focal point of Nigel’s week, a place he can go to, where he doesn’t feel like the disabled person. Where his position as a Police Officer still means something. His disability is catered for, but it doesn’t affect how people treat or speak to him and it is definitely not seen as a weakness.

You can read all about their story in our Veteran’s Stories here.

Walk a Mile

Here at Woody’s Lodge, we have been encouraging everyone to get involved with our 100 Miles in May fundraising challenge. However, for Nigel, sometimes taking just one step can be a huge effort but he still wanted to get involved and raise money for Woody’s, plus take on a personal challenge of walking a mile! 

Nigel uses a wheelchair to get around most of the time to save his energy for when he wants to walk a little, so for him trying to walk the six metres of their garden can take a huge effort but Nigel is determined! 

Nigel started on 1 May and Karen has been recording his efforts each day, which we have been sharing on our Facebook. Karen and Nigel estimate that it could take him two or three months to complete his mile walk. Although he’s already completed a quarter of a mile and has raised over £3,500 for Woody’s Lodge which is amazing! We are so grateful and in awe of Nigel and everything that he is achieving. If you would like to donate to Nigel’s Walk a Mile challenge, you can do so on his Virgin Money Giving page here.

Keep going Nigel, everyone here at Woody’s Lodge is cheering you on every step of the way!

If you’re a friend or family of a veteran or an Emergency Services leaver and are looking for some help and support through veteran’s family services or perhaps the chance to socialise with others who’ve had a similar experience to yourself, Woody’s Lodge is here to help. Contact the team on 01446 781792 (South Wales) or 01492 533954 (North Wales). You can also drop us an email at [email protected]