Nijmegen march brings in £2,500 for Fisher House

A team of fundraisers from the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) have raised £2,500 for Fisher House by taking on the Nijmegen Challenge.

The Challenge sees intrepid teams of walkers take on a 100 mile hike over four days, finishing in the Dutch town of Nijmegen. This annual event is incredibly popular and sees thousands of residents line the streets to cheer on the military and civilian participants from across the world.

The team of 12 from RCDM were led by WO2 Nicholas McKenzie, who was taking on the Nijmegen Challenge for the tenth time!

Speaking of the challenge, Nicholas said: “Once again the Nijmegen Challenge was a fantastic trip, showing the best of the military spirit from around the world. It’s wonderful to see so many military and civilian participants coming together, with over a million people taking to the streets to watch.”

The team raised money for Fisher House, the home away from home for military patients and their families at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

Fisher House relies entirely on the generous support of its donors and supporters, and the Nijmegen team were keen to spread the word about the home away from home to everyone that they met on the march.

Nicholas said: “It was great to be able to spread awareness of Fisher House whilst we were in the Netherlands. We had a great response from everyone that we met and it was brilliant to have raised so much money.”

Cathryn Worth, Fundraising Manager at QEHB Charity, said: “Once again our thanks go to all of the incredible people who took on the Nijmegen March to raise money for Fisher House. Their fundraising will mean that we can continue to support military patients and their families in their time of need at Fisher House.”

The Nijmegen March 2019 team was:

WO2 Nicholas Mckenzie (team leader)
Capt Brent Carter
WO1 Dawn Stewart
SSgt Lance Cahill
PO Jodie Melina
Sgt Hanna Bridge
Sgt Regis Nhara
Sgt Phil Swarbrick
Cpl Donald Amoah
Cpl Jay Gurung
Cpl Natasha Hood
Cpl Dan Parker