Armed Forces members take on colossal Yompathon challenge to help raise money for Gosport mental health charity

Seven former and serving British service personnel will take on the Yompathon challenge, setting off from Gosport high street on Friday , to raise money and awareness for the mental health of frontline workers.

The Yompathon – ‘yomp’ is Military slang for your own marching pace – is the brainchild of James Mazzoni-Dalton (MD) and is a 3,863 mile march across the UK visiting over 200 military and emergency service establishments.

James, from Hampshire, will be joined by six former and serving British service personnel from across the seven branches of the services, the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, British Army, Royal Air Force, Police, Fire and Rescue and emergency ambulance service, in support frontline service personnel suffering from mental health issues.

MD has been in the military since 1998 and is an active member of the Royal Navy’s Submarine Service.

He said: ‘I know two people in my 24 years who have unfortunately lost their battle with mental health, a paratrooper who took his own life and a paramedic.

With a fundraising target of £800,000, one of the eight charities the challenge will be raising for is FirstLight Trust – a grassroots charity based on Gosport high street supporting veterans of the armed forces and emergency services and their families and helping to smooth the transition from service life.

‘I wanted to do something for all of the Armed Forces, so I picked the charity for a good reason,’ he added.

The trust is ‘delighted’ to be one of charities selected by MD and his team.

Each day for 40 days the team will march through rain, hail or shine, a minimum of 96.5 miles, carrying a rucksack known as a bergen weighing 25kg, to represent the burden ‘invisible burden’ carried by many of our frontline workers.

Marching relay-style team members will complete eight or more miles before handing over the bergen.

‘I have never felt quite so strongly about wanting to accomplish something that will help both serving and former members of the Armed Forces and Emergency Services suffering from mental health issues,’ added MD.

‘Mental health doesn’t discriminate, it affects everyone.’