Blind veteran walks 100 laps ahead of 100th birthday

Blind veteran Nancy is a resident at our Brighton centre and will turn 100 on 18 September. Inspired by Captain Tom, she set herself a challenge to walk 100 laps of the garden at the centre on Wednesday 7 July while fundraising for our charity.

The staff at the Brighton centre decorated the garden ahead of Nancy’s walk with bunting and music was played to encourage her on her way round.

She said:

"The garden is in full bloom in July! I did 99 smaller circuits of the garden and then my final lap was of the whole garden. Thank you to everyone who supported me!"

About Nancy

Nancy joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1941, training at Lancaster and Oswestry. Selected for officer training, she trained at Harrogate and Edinburgh and was commissioned as an officer in 1943. She was then on a gun site in Swansea for the remainder of the war and was discharged as a Subaltern in 1948.

Nancy lost her sight due to glaucoma but fortunately she found Blind Veterans UK in 2011 and we have supported her since.

Last year during the lockdown period, she sadly lost Peter whom she met at the Brighton Centre. In March 2019, Nancy and Peter had a love blessing at our chapel in Brighton.

Nancy has fundraised a lot over the years and did a similar walking challenge for her 90^th birthday. She walked for 90 minutes and raised £3,000 for Blind Veterans UK. We are eternally grateful for everything Nancy has done to give back to our charity and support others.