Devizes fundraiser's trek for heroes

8:00am Thursday 3rd April 2008

Former Household Cavalry officer Simon Jacobs is to cycle 350 miles across France in May to raise money for the charity Help for Heroes.

But while others in the group of 300 will be taking part in state of the art touring bikes, retired major Mr Jacobs will be riding a Moulton cycle made in Bradford on Avon and more often used by commuters and shoppers.

Mr Jacobs, 44, from Worton, near Devizes, said: "It will be Wiltshire man, on a Wiltshire bike, raising money for a cause dear to the hearts of Wiltshire people."

Mr Jacobs is riding for Help for Heroes, which has pledged to raise £6million to provide a swimming pool and other fitness equipment at Headley Court, which provides specialist rehabilitation for service personnel seriously injured while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr Jacobs said: "Some 91 soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but for every one killed there are half a dozen seriously injured, some losing limbs. So far we have raised £2million towards the total."

Mr Jacobs served in the Blues and Royals before transferring to the Wiltshire Yeomanry, taking part in its bicentennial parade in Devizes in 1995 before leaving to start up a property search company.

The Big Battlefield Bike Ride in May will call at Caen, Le Havre, Dieppe, Amiens, and Arras. Cyclists will be call at the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars, including the Normandy beaches, Pegasus Bridge, St Valery en Caux and the Thiepval memorial on the Somme.

Mr Jacobs said: "The recent news items about servicemen and women being ordered not to appear in uniform in public is terribly sad.

"The people of Britain ought to celebrate their soldiers. We need to get the bunting out to welcome them home."