A student from Westbury is helping drive a new national campaign to remember 10 years in Afghanistan.
A national appeal to raise over £350,000 for those affected by the war in Afghanistan will be launched in London this October. Casey Fuke, 21, of Westbury, joins an ambitious team of students from the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in leading the ‘DecAid’ campaign, which will honour the decade-long contribution of British Armed Forces in Afghanistan since 2001.
Casey, an ex Matravers pupil who is now studying environmental science at Plymouth University, got involved after an ex-Exeter student set up the campaign and visited her university. “It seemed like it was going to be really big and something really worthwhile,” she explained. “Myself and a load of others signed up – it’s a great opportunity.”
“Personally, my role is to do with the media, and promoting the event.”
The DecAid team is all current or former members of Exeter University Officer Training Corps (EUOTC) which draws its membership from Exeter and Plymouth Universities. They are all under the age of 25 and passionate about the cause. The team is completely voluntary and most of them have been working with DecAid whilst juggling their degrees at the same time.
DecAid’s latest patron, former BBC war correspondent and independent politician, Martin Bell comments, “I find it most heartening that these young people, on their own initiative, are doing so much to support our soldiers in Afghanistan. This is not a celebration but a show of solidarity.”
Casey will be attending the official launch at 7 Rifles Barracks, Davies Street, London, which will be supported by DecAid’s patrons; Lieutenant General Sir Nicholas Parker KCB CBE, Deputy Commander of ISAF Forces in Afghanistan; Hamish Clark of ‘Monarch of the Glen’; the Lord Lieutenant of Devon, and sponsors; Exeter University Innovation Centre; Plymouth University; and NRG Direct Mail.
DecAid proceedings will dominate 2011 in a coordinated year-long campaign. The opening ceremony, a spectacular ‘Massed Pipes and Drums’ event, on 26th June 2011, will see 2,011 musicians march along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, in conjunction with the Armed Forces Day events.
The appeal has set a series of extreme physical challenges which will involve several thousand people nationally, including ex-servicemen, their family and friends. The challenges include; The ‘Munro Mission’, in Scotland, which aims to conquer 283 mountains in 45 days, climbing the height of Mount Everest every three days; ‘The Ride 2 Remember’ static bike race from London to Kabul, ‘The Big Tow’, in which vehicles, will be towed around Rockingham race track in a tri-service competition; and ‘Stretched to the Limit’ where 30 teams will attempt the arduous trek up Snowdon, the highest mountain in England and Wales, carrying a heavy stretcher.
The DecAid enterprise, which will donate to three service charities; ‘Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association’ (SSAFA); ‘The British Ex-Servicemen Association’ (BLESMA); and ‘Talking 2 Minds’, is the brainchild of Rupert Laing, aged 23, a 2009 graduate from The University of Exeter.
Rupert said, “We feel passionately about the cause and we hope to encourage support for the physically wounded, the bereaved families, and those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
As well as its own proceedings, DecAid will oversee individually organised events which can be advertised on their website www.decaid.co. uk. All of the money raised will go towards helping those affected by the decade-long conflict in Afghanistan.
