Soldiers' trek for wounded heroes

The two fathers want to assist local wounded soldiers

Two Lancashire-based soldiers are preparing to trek 100 miles round the Isle of Man in four days to raise money for their injured comrades.

Warrant Officer Nik Smith and Warrant Officer Peter Alladice, both 39, from the Royal Logistic Corps in Preston will begin and end the trek in Douglas.

Armed with only with soldiers' rations and camping equipment, they are fundraising for Help the Heroes.

Their trek starts on 5 August and they hope to collect money on the way round.

WO Smith, a father-of-three from Manchester, has been in the Army for 23 years and served in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and the Falkland Islands.

We are raising money for injured personnel which, as serving soldiers, is something close to our hearts WO Peter Alladice

He said: "It is important that we show our support to injured soldiers, particularly with the current operations in Afghanistan in mind.

"We chose to do this walk because we work for the regional Army brigade which covers the Isle of Man, as well as north west England.

"So this is a great way of doing something locally to assist our soldiers."

His fellow walker, WO Alladice, who has served in the Army for the past 21 years, is from Blackpool and has two children.

He added: "We will be walking the coastal path around the Isle of Man, so we should be okay on the navigational side of things - as long as we keep the coast to our right we will be all right."