Page 11 - The Light Blue Volunteer Journal 2021

Cambridge to Cape Town
In the midst of the first wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic, I like many of
my peers felt isolated and burned out
by weeks of lockdowns and zoom- meetings. An exciting forecast of events including shooting camps, ADX and regimental visits was swept aside as
the wider army reserve was stood up to assist the government with battling the coronavirus.
The initial idea of Cambridge to Cape Town was conceived after numerous conversations with friends who were studying degrees across the healthcare field. They relayed that the situation in hospitals across the country was looking quite bleak, with most fearing that the pandemic could overwhelm the National Health Service. The prerogative was simply, to do whatever we could to help.
Due to government guidelines at the time, lockdown was to be observed unless you were an essential worker, or doing daily exercise. Furthermore, we couldn’t travel either within the UK or abroad or participate in any sort of team effort due to social distancing guidelines. Constrained by these rules, myself and JUO Mercer began to look for a way to challenge ourselves and raise money for an NHS charity, all whilst conforming
to the ‘new normal.’ Over FaceTime
we conceived the rough idea of what we wanted to do: a fitness challenge that could be undertaken remotely and most importantly, was accessible to
all skill levels. We chose Cape Town as the destination due to the CUOTC’s prestigious battle honour. With some research we found that the original journey undertaken by the Cambridge
University Volunteer Rifles had taken approximately one month from leaving Cambridge to arriving on the front lines in Transvaal (modern day Mpumalanga Province).
After consulting with various members of the Permanent Staff, we pitched our idea to Major Peniston-Bird who as IC sport, took it further to the XO and CO who both enthusiastically endorsed the plan. From April to May 2020, a team including JUO Mercer, 2Lt Walton- Knight, Major Peniston-Bird, and myself worked to set up the required Strava and JustGiving pages and establish a social media campaign. Furthermore, in true Army fashion there were numerous admin instructions and risk assessments to produce before the first kilometre could be covered.
Finally, at midnight on the 25th of
May the challenge began with OCdt Ribera recording the first six miles of
the challenge. From then on, the fifty- five participants covered a cumulative average tally of 231 miles a day. OCdts Tomsett, Norman and JUO Mercer covered the largest number of individual miles, although everybody involved contributed to the final distance of 8,325 Miles which was completed four days earlier than planned. The team also racked up an impressive 295,546 feet of elevation gain which is the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest 10 times. Perhaps the most significant success was the fact we raised £5,823 for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, money which will be used to train future paramedics and maintain the ambulance fleet.
Personally, the C2C challenge provided me with motivation to keep fit and
active whilst finishing my undergraduate degree. In a time of uncertainty and isolation, it was a welcome reprieve
from endless online lectures and hours sat typing away. Some of the OCdts
who participated mentioned to me
that for them it was a good reason to start a new style of fitness, such as
road cycling or tabbing. On a more practical level, JUO Mercer brilliantly devised and disseminated a multi-media campaign over the unit’s social media pages. 2Lt Walton-Knight and I were also introduced to the staple of any young officer’s career: admin. Multiple admin instructions and risk assessments compounded both of our appreciation for being in the field.
Finally, the key lesson from the C2C challenge personally was the importance of community and teamwork in times
of hardship, the challenge helped us bond as a unit and offered an outlet
for the stresses and pressures of the pandemic. Amidst personal hardships, university degrees, hospital placements and illness of family and friends, we were able to come together for a common goal of helping those at the forefront
of the fight against the coronavirus within the East Anglian community.
This feat encompassed the army values and standards, and I cannot thank everybody enough for their support and participation.
“Non nobis solum nati sumus.” – Cicero
Pte Coyle
THE LIGHT BLUE VOLUNTEER 11