A fund-raising race night hosted by the East of Scotland branch of the Royal Marines Association at the Arbroath Royal British Legion (Scotland) clubrooms raised £1200 for injured and disabled soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen and women.

Publican Mark Dalgarno, himself a former member of Condor-based 45 Commando, came up with the idea of organising the event to support the Help For Heroes campaign after hearing of an incident at a public leisure centre in Leatherhead, Surrey.

A group of injured military personnel being cared for at the MoD’s Headley Court treatment centre had gone with an instructor for rehabilitative swimming at the centre but were forced to leave after regular local swimmers—who either did not like the idea of them being allowed free use of the facilities or objected to sharing the water with amputees—complained.

Mark said, “That incident prompted a chap called Bryn Perry, who served with the Royal Green Jackets, to found the Help for Heroes campaign, which aims to raise £6 million to create a state of the art pool and gym rehabilitation complex at Headley Court.

“The race night seemed like a fun way of helping the campaign and the 50-plus people who came along thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

“At the start and end of the night I showed a video explaining the work done at Headley Court and you could have heard a pin drop.

“A lot of those who attended had been in the forces but even they were very moved by the sight of these young men who have survived the most terrible injuries and who are working towards making their lives as good as they can be.

“Because of the ongoing operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, and the fact that better medical care means more and more people are surviving what would previously have been fatal injuries, there are more and more lads coming home and needing this kind of long-term help.

“With the Condor base right on our doorstep, I think the business community and the people of Arbroath are more aware than most of the sacrifices our servicemen and women make and they certainly dug deep to help us raise this remarkable sum for the Help for Heroes campaign.

“I would like to thank everyone who came along on the night or who made donations, and especially the main sponsors MacIntosh & Fenton, Colin McNab, the Barry Buddon Range Staff, D H Robertson, Mike Parker, The Ram’s Heid and The Pageant.

“I’m also very grateful to Vision Sound & Light of Dundee who provided the audio-visual equipment to show the races free of charge.”