On 13th October 2018 brethren from London lodges City of London Rifles No.5606 and Eccentric No.2488 completed the 25km Thames Bridges Trek raising £2900 for Combat Stress, the UK’s leading charity for UK military veterans’ mental health.

Starting at Putney Bridge and finishing at Southwark Park, the challenge entailed zig-zagging along the Thames and crossing 16 bridges in the process. The team of W Bros. Keith Roberts, Paul Blackmore, Robert Vincent and John Cowan of City of London Rifles Lodge and W Bro George Berry of Eccentric Lodge completed the course in 4 hours.

On the 13th January 2019 the same group of 5 will be joined by another 3 brethren to participate in the 20km Thames Winter Walk in aid of The Quick Response Memorial Woodland, another military veterans support charity. Master Mason Stuart Baxter and Entered Apprentices Carl Francis and Lee Garratty, all of City of London Rifles Lodge, are the new brethren joining the fundraising group.

Here is the link to the sponsorship page – https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/cityoflondonrifleslodge

Combat Stress is the UK’s leading charity for veterans’ mental health. For almost a century, they have helped former servicemen and women deal with trauma-related mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Today, they provide life-changing treatment to veterans from every service and every conflict. They do this on the phone, online, in the community and at their specialist centres.

Based in Dorking, Surrey Quick Response Memorial Woodland supports and raises funds to assist ex-service personnel immediately when they find themselves in times of difficulty. This is done by holding various events and the generous donations and goodwill of supporters. They run a memorial woodland, lovingly tended to by a team of volunteers, that is used by ex-soldiers, sailors and airmen and their families as a place of reflection.