Below is a selection of testimonials from veterans that have attended previous expeditions with VetRun180. It is always great for us to hear the positive impact our expeditions make to the injured veterans.
I attended the 22nd-27th Feb exped. When I first arrived at the airport and met everyone it was relaxed and we all clicked. Everything was well planned and stress free, even when we arrived at Sweden.
Every day was different and had its own challenge, I personally enjoyed sleeping in the igloo and will never forget that. Each day the TLs gave us daily and evening briefs and were all over the welfare of the blokes. They constantly made sure we felt ok physically and mentally, they were always available if I had a wobble, needed some reassurance or a hug.
I highly rate this trip and would happily do this again and recommend Vetrun to anyone who needs help. I honestly feel this has helped me clear my head and realise that I am not alone.
Thank you everyone!
Kenny - VetRun180 - Beneficiary
If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you!
Kenny - VetRun180 - Beneficiary - Sweden 02/23I am a former Royal Marines Commando having served for 11 years, and soon to be retired Police Officer serving for 23 years.
Up until a few years ago I was pottering along nicely. Then my physical health started to deteriorate, my legs started to falter and I had several operations on both my ankles and knees all service related. These operations left me with limited mobility, which meant I had to change my mindset when it came to physical fitness.
I was then diagnosed with severe Asthma. This has had a profound effect on me but again I have managed to adapt my lifestyle in order to control my symptoms.
Then the pandemic hit. Due to my severe Asthma I was classed as vulnerable. Unfortunately I caught Covid and became very ill. I was hospitalised and spent 3 weeks in hospital. I was very lucky to survive and contracted double pneumonia on the back of Covid. After being discharged from hospital and returning home I unfortunately didn’t get better and was eventually diagnosed with Long Covid. It wasn’t long after this that my mental health started to deteriorate. I became agoraphobic and suffered with anxiety and depression, and subsequently diagnosed with PTSD.
It has been a long struggle for me, but a friend of mine told me about VetRun 180. I applied to go on a trip to Sweden and was lucky enough to be selected.
I spent 5 days snowmobiling around Swedish Lapland. The trip itself was absolutely amazing. I was also very very lucky to spend time with some amazing people who I now class as friends.
There is no pressure, nobody judges you, and everyone was willing to listen…. This is better than any therapy!!
Amazing destination, amazing group of people, amazing charity. Thank you VetRun180 for giving me one of the best weeks of my life and hopefully setting me back on the path to good times….
Andy - VetRun180 - Beneficiary
AndyMy trip to Sweden with VetRun180 couldn't have come at a better time. The team were amazing setting it all up and the trip was out of this world. The lads who were on it were top lads and it was good to get back to the military banter and atmosphere. Arctic circle, northern lights, snowmobiling through Sweden, couldn't really ask for anymore! By far the best trip I've been on!
Thank you to vetrun180 for what you do and what you stand for.
Well that’s the end of a fantastic week! Before I went away with Vetrun180 I was in a really lonely place, I had pushed my family away and the few friends I had left but now I’ve got ten new friends and looking a head to better times, planning things for the future with a bucket list of thing I want to do, all thanks to Vetrun180 and the great bunch of blokes I went with it! It wasn’t easy to ask for help but I didn’t need to, they just helped me with out asking it was like we were all thinking as one group just like it always was in the force’s things a head look bright for me. Thank you Vetrun180, the trustees, the team leaders, everyone behind the scenes making these trips happen.
Kev - VetRun180 - Beneficiary
If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you!
Kev - VetRun180 - Beneficiary - Portugal 06/23I read a newspaper article back in February 2019 about VetRun180. I looked them up online and submitted an interest form.
I was invited to go on an off-roading expedition to Galicia. The trip changed my whole outlook on life in general, I was in a pretty dark place at the time & the time away with like minded people was exactly what I needed.
I am lucky enough to have an amazing family but other than them I didn’t really have any drive or any goals set.
I am now a Team Leader with the charity and have been on vehicle based off-roading trips across Europe and more recently Snowmobiling in Sweden.
I have gained numerous qualifications through VetRun180 in Off-Road driving, Snowmobiling, First Aid and many more.
The concept of “Adventure Therapy” and the motto of “If It Doesn’t Challenge You It Won’t Change You” quite simply just works.
All expeds are led by injured veterans for the benefit of other injured veterans & it is because of this that relationships are forged.
Being placed out of your comfort zone & everyone having to pull in the same direction to be successful provides an unbelievable sense of belonging.
Being back around veterans who all have something in common, in that they are struggling in one way or another, whether that be physically or with their mental health & by working together to achieve what might seem unachievable to some is inspiring.
I owe the charity & the trustees a massive debt of gratitude, without VetRun180 in my life I would be stuck in a rut, plodding on with no sense of purpose, just going from day to day.
If anyone is out there reading this and thinks that they wouldn’t mind doing what we do and getting involved then, DO NOT HESITATE, complete the contact form on the VetRun180.org website and one of us will be in touch.
It might sound a bit of a cliché however, it could just change your whole perception on things, like it has mine and so many other lads and lasses across the UK.
Ross - VetRun180 - Team Leader - BeneficiaryI was made aware of Vetrun while undergoing rehabilitation for my injury/illness by one of the rehab team. After speaking to the Vetrun team I got confirmed I’d be on the next trip.
I was lucky to spend 2 days conducting my off-road driving/first aid course at the Land Rover off-road course followed by some immense off road driving through some of the best countryside in the UK (Whitby to Lake District)
I didn’t realise how much I needed the break, sense of adventure and the laugh with the lads and lasses on the trip.
I returned to Rehabilitation with a more positive and upbeat frame of mind.
A big thanks to the Vetrun team members and all the people that make this happen that work behind the scenes. A great charity that certainly has a big impact on the people it aims to help.
Bobby - VetRun180 - Beneficiary
BobbyI want to thank everyone that that made this trip possible, to be back with lads from a military background was brilliant and the banter was flowing immediately! Every single person brought something to this epic road trip and made every day one to remember…The only downside was that it had to come to an end. I’d highly recommend applying for one of these trips for a challenge and to get behind this charity!
Kind regards
Kemsley
Kemsley - VetRun180 - Beneficiary - Portugal 07/23The expedition was a great chance to not only vary my physical rehabilitation, but spend some time around other veterans for a while. It was a sort of ‘release valve’ from the mundane day-to-day life of civvy street. It was great to be working as a team again, with lads that I’d only just met days before. And seeing them approach all the problems we encountered with the enthusiasm and positivity that they used to have.
Joe H - Royal MarinesWe arrived at the airport and I already felt like I was somewhere I belonged again, unrestrained in my comments, listened too & valued, then the group got bigger and better and before I knew it the team had fully assembled and the trip to Luleä in the Swedish Lapland began.
Arriving at the hotel late in the evening, it was a case of, head down see ya in the AM.
Breakfast done & onto the transport that took us out to the edge of the frozen Bothnian Sea. We met our guide that would take us to the Artic Circle. He can only be described as the Swedish Austin Powers, a truly amazing person & cue 6 days of pure entertainment, “Do I make you horny baby..do I? etc rained out across the terrain (I laughed so much on this trip I almost regained a six pack!).
The challenge itself was so hard at times, such low temps coupled my knee & back injuries was tough. 6-7 hours a day, through snowstorms & forests!
No matter how hard it got or any incidents that we encountered with people falling off in 5ft of snow, snowmobiles getting stuck, collecting water, cooking meals, making fires to keep us warm every night.
Despite all this the one thing that not one single person on the trip has lost is the ability to come together when needed, build a lifelong bond, help, support and listen when it’s needed.
The most amazing group of people who, have the most challenging physical & mental life changing injuries, who just got on with it.
I achieved more personally from spending the most challenging and rewarding 6 days in Swedish Lapland with Ross, Ben, Mac, Billy, Sam, Pez, Johnny & Lee than I have for many years, I left feeling rejuvenated and ready to challenge myself again in the world and life I live in and for that I will be eternally grateful to VetRun180.
Andy - VetRun180 - BeneficiaryI served in the Royal Marines from 1977-1999 since leaving all those years ago, I have slowly been struggling with my mental health.
This came to a head in 2022 when I was diagnosed with complex PTSD and anxiety.
A friend who had been on an expedition with Vetrun180 told be how it had helped him, so I applied not thinking they would pick an old ex bootneck. But they did, so off we set for a weeks snowmobiling in Sweden up in the arctic circle.
I have to say the whole expedition has for me been life changing, I can’t lie I found it both physically and mentally challenging, But that’s just what I needed.
But working back in a team environment with everyone watching each other’s backs has been great. It was also great just to talk and listen to people’s stories and issues, without being judged.
I feel like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders, I feel more positive and less apprehensive about life and ready to start living again.
A massive heart felt thank you to Ross, Joe, Jonny, Phil, Andy, Scott, Matt, Sam and not for getting Thomas.
I will be eternally grateful.
Karl - VetRun180 - Beneficiary
Karl