SERVICEWOMAN HIKES 185KM TO RAISE £10,000 IN AID OF MILITARY-RELATED MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

Corporal Natalya Platonova, winner of Channel 4’s reality show The Circle, travelled 185km from Oxford to Buckingham Palace while handcuffed to a 3kg medicine ball, to raise awareness of the mental health issues that can affect serving personnel and veterans.

Cpl Platonova completed her journey on Saturday 14th May, raising just over £10,000 for us and ABF The Soldiers’ Charity in the process.

Having previously battled with her own mental health issues, Cpl Platonva said: “This week has been the most rewarding, challenging and fulfilling week of my life. My body may be broken but my mind has rebuilt itself and feels stronger than ever. I feel like this has been the very best therapy for me.”

Robert Marsh, Director of Fundraising at Combat Stress, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Cpl Platonova for taking on this gruelling challenge, and we are confident that her efforts will have inspired others to do their bit to support those in the military community with mental health problems.”

Cpl Platonova journey was part of the nationwide fundraising Medicine Ball Challenge which is raising money for ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and Combat Stress. Participants are handcuffed to a 3kg ball for seven days (representing the hidden burden of mental health problems in physical form), before handing the ball over to a new participant.

To find out more about the challenge or to get involved, visit: https://events.soldierscharity.org/event/medicine-ball-challenge/home