Coronavirus pandemic impacts Walking With The Wounded’s desert expedition- new date revealed.
Following recent UK and Omani Government guidelines on Covid-19, leading military charity, Walking With The Wounded, has announced the delay of its upcoming expedition, The Grenadier Walk of Oman, to the Autumn.
The expedition will now run in the Autumn
to ensure the safety of the team and those around them.
Originally due to begin on 18th February, The Grenadier Walk of Oman is the charity’s 6th international expedition, raising awareness and funds for Walking With The Wounded’s employment, mental health and care coordination programmes for ex-military and their families.
It will follow the journey of a group
of six serving and ex-military personnel as
they trek across the Omani desert in the footsteps of legendary British Army
explorer Wilfred Thesiger. The team will walk 400km across the great sands,
pulling a 100kg cart with limited provisions. Serving members of the Omani
Armed Forces will also accompany the team.
Since the charity was founded in 2010, Walking
With The Wounded has organised and run ambitious expeditions to the North Pole,
South Pole, Everest and across Britain and the USA to demonstrate the
determination and skills of wounded ex-military.
Each expedition incorporates teams of ex-servicemen
and women with physical and mental injuries and is entirely funded by corporate
partners.
Fergus Williams, CEO of WWTW, commented, “The global coronavirus pandemic has caused
many events both in the charity sector and beyond to be put on hold. Whilst it
is disappointing to announce a second delay to the Grenadier Walk of Oman
expedition, we must follow government guidance both in the UK and Oman. The
safety of the team and the support team is critical. The team will continue
their training as we all look ahead to the new date in Autumn 2021. I would
like to thank the expedition partners in the UK and Oman for their ongoing
support of Walking With The Wounded and the Grenadier Walk of Oman.”
Mark
Tennant, Commercial Director, INEOS Automotive, added, “We are fully supportive of the
efforts made by the team at WWTW and in Oman. These are challenging times
for everyone, but they can only be overcome by close collaboration and by
ensuring everyone involved is kept as safe as possible. We look forward
to working closely with the participants and organisers towards this exciting
expedition!”
The Walk of Oman is supported by The Duke of Sussex in his role as the official Expedition Patron, along with support from the Royal Office of HM Sultan Haitham bin Tarik and in partnership with the Omani Armed Forces.
Find out more: www.walkofoman.co.uk