Author: AsstRegSec

An update from The Colonel of the Regiment regarding the handover/takeover of the Colonel of the Regiment can be found on Page 2

The Regimental Association has received a small allocation of tickets for RHC Founder’s Day, which will take place on Thursday 8th June 2023 at RHC beginning at 1030hrs. Those attending must arrive at RHC between 0900hrs – 1000hrs.

Any member wishing to be considered for a ticket/tickets to the event are to submit their details (as per Page 2) to the Regimental Secretary by Friday 10 March.

Tickets are now available for the next Cavalry Lunch Club lunch at The Cavalry and Guards Club on Thursday 22nd September 2022 at 12.00pm for a 12.30 pm lunch.

Sir Richard Dearlove, former Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), will be the guest speaker.

Booking information and notes about the speaker can be found on page 2.

The Veterans’ Recognition Scheme has a two-phase rollout. Phase 1 is complete; with Service leavers receiving a recognition card as part of the discharge process.

Phase 2 is to extend the scheme to existing veterans so that they can more quickly, easily and securely prove they served in the UK Armed Forces so they can access the services they need.

More information can be found on Page 2.

Many members of the Alumni will remember Colonel Guy Deacon who retired from the army recently and whose last appointment was as Colonel Royal Armoured Corps, here in Bovington. During his four year tenure, his focus and that of the entire headquarters was on bringing the RAC together to maximise the strengths of the individual regiments that make up the RAC under a project called “RAC First”. The RAC Alumni was one of the many measures that have been pursued as part of that project.

What some of you will know is that Colonel Guy was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2010 and, given that he was consistently fighting this condition, the impact he had on the Corps is, therefore, all the more remarkable. He never drew attention to his circumstances nor expected any leeway, but he will be the first to admit that he could not have done what he did at any level without the tremendous support of HQ RAC staff and the regiments of the RAC.

On retirement, Col Guy was never going to let Parkinson’s stop him living as active and full a life as possible, including fulfilling his main ambition: to travel overland from England through Africa to South Africa, a trip he had been dreaming of and planning since travelling over land to Kenya with soldiers from the QDG in 1987.

Col Guy made it as far as Sierra Leone before Covid restrictions forced him to abandon his travels and come home. He is determined to continue the journey but now he is focusing on using the journey to explain what it is like to have Parkinson’s from a personal perspective and to shine a light on the realities of Parkinson’s disease in Africa where people don’t get the help that we have in Europe and are often stigmatised because there is no known reason why people get it and no known cure. Indeed, in some parts of Africa people with Parkinson’s are assumed to be cursed and are ostracised by their own communities. Colonel Guy will be meeting many of those people as he makes his way through the next fourteen countries, and at the same time compiling video footage from interviews and his own travelogue to make a film on his return.

He has developed many contacts to help him through some of the more difficult countries where he will face driving on seemingly impossible roads, very complicated border crossings, genuine security risks in some countries, as well as his own personal trials as he makes his way south. The journey would be rather daunting for anybody but so much more so for him, especially as he will be doing much of the travelling by himself. When he finishes, his aim will be to have a film worthy of being shown by the best broadcasters and he is preparing a submission to the BBC before he departs next month.

His aim is very clear now: to make as many people aware of the realities of Parkinson’s as possible because there is so much that people don’t understand. Everybody knows that Parkinson’s results in debilitating physical characteristics but there are few people who know about the other consequences of Parkinson’s and just what it is like to live with it. He will be brutal in describing how he feels on a daily basis when challenged by the everyday realities of travelling through Africa. And he will meet people on his way whose condition and circumstances are far worse than his and who need just as much help but don’t get it. Whilst he is ultimately raising awareness of the need to find a cure and the work of the ‘Cure Parkinson’s Trust’(Cure Parkinson’s – Charity – Formerly The Cure Parkinson’s Trust (cureparkinsons.org.uk), and ‘Parkinson’s Africa’ (Home | Parkinson’s Africa (parkinsonsafrica.com), he is not asking for money for them now.

If however there are readers who wish to donate, they can either donate to ‘Cure Parkinson’s Trust’ directly through his just giving page or they can help him cover the cost of filming by contributing to his crowdfunding page (links to both of these are shown below).

What he really wants is as many followers as possible on his journey via “Polar steps”, a site that records his daily activity and immediate thoughts as well photographs and film of what he has been doing on a daily basis. Knowing that people are following him spurs him on and gives him great support on what is otherwise a very daunting project. If you do nothing else to help him, please forward the links below to those who are not members of the RAC Alumni who may be interested.

A short film is here which is well worth watching:
https://vimeo.com/667886407/d8b2e53ff7

To help make the film please donate here:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/freetown-to-cape-town-with-parkinson-s-disease–2

To help find a cure, donations can be made here:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/guy-deacons-journey

And to follow him as he drives south, please log on here:
https://www.polarsteps.com/GuyDeacon/2732274-sierra-leone-and-beyond

The Regimental Association has received a small allocation of tickets for RHC Founder’s Day, which will take place on Thursday 9th June 2022 at RHC beginning at 1030hrs.

Any member wishing to be considered for a ticket/tickets to the event are to submit their details (as per Page 2) to the Regimental Secretary by Friday 18 March.

There were several events over the past 2 weeks involving members of the association and the serving regiment to commemorate the remembrance of those who had served and given their lives in the nation’s defence.

Additional information, including a short slide show of the events, can be found on Page 2.