SWANAGE RAILWAY VOLUNTEER AND FORMER SOLDIER, FRANK E. ROBERTS, IN RENEWED APPEAL TO HELP OUR INJURED SERVICEPEOPLE WITH THE HEROES HAVEN SWANAGE CHARITY

News Item from Andrew P.M. Wright - dated 27th Sept 2011
Official photographer & press officer, Swanage Railway.
Photographs are copyright as noted
To view a larger version of any photograph on this page, just click on the thumbnail photograph to view a full size version, and then click on it or 'x' on your keyboard to close it and return to this page.

The photos on this page can also be viewed as a slideshow - just click on any image and then click on it to continue scrolling through the photos - Next and Previous links on the right and left of the photos - or use the CLOSE link or 'x' on your keyboard to exit

Frank E. Roberts on the South West Coastal Path Walk to raise money for the Heroes Haven Swanage charity.
Photograph copyright Frank E. Roberts

By Andrew P.M. Wright.

A determined Swanage Railway volunteer, Berkshire station manager and former soldier who completed a gruelling 633-mile sponsored walk during the summer - to raise £3,000 for injured servicepeople and their families - is making a renewed appeal for donations.

Frank Roberts triumphantly arrived in Swanage from the Downs, south of the seaside town, early on the morning of Saturday, 25 June, 2011, after spending five weeks walking the entire south west of England coastal path from Minehead in Somerset to the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset via Land's End in Cornwall and Devon.

A Swanage Railway volunteer since the early 1980s and currently station manager at Windsor for South West Trains, 50-year-old Frank is raising money for two good causes; the Heroes' Haven appeal in Swanage for £75,000 and the Baton Trust based at Honiton in Devon.

[More information about the Heroes Haven Swanage charity can be found on their website at http://www.heroes-haven.org.uk/ here, and you can easily donate on-line via Paypal by clicking the button on the right. If you are kind enough to use Paypal to donate, please put SWCP in the Paypal 'message to seller' box. Thank You! Frank E Roberts]

Swanage Railway's Frank Roberts with the team of volunteers including soldiers rebuilding Herston Halt.
Photo copyright Andrew P.M. Wright

Before his retirement as a Warrant Officer, Frank served with the 11th Signals Regiment of the Royal Corps of Signals based at Blanford Forum in Dorset.

The Heroes' Haven project in Swanage is working to raise £75,000 to build a specially adapted and equipped cabin at a holiday park in the town for use by injured members of the armed forces and their families across 50 weeks of the year.

Throughout his sponsored walk, Frank proudly carried the Baton which has been crafted from the handle of a stretcher used in battle to carry the wounded and those in need in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

Recognising those people who have paid - and those who are ready to pay - the ultimate price with their lives, the Baton was recently taken to the Falklands, it was carried in the London Marathon and it was the focus of the March for Heroes during November 2010.

Frank's arrival in Swanage co-incided with the start the seaside town's annual Armed Forces and Veterans' Weekend which saw servicepeople and veterans given free train travel on the Swanage Railway between Norden 'park and ride', Corfe Castle, Harman's Cross, Herston Halt and Swanage.

The busy commemorative weekend marking the 90th anniversary of the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal saw the 11th Signals Regiment exercise its freedom of Swanage when the soldiers marched through the seaside town.

After completing his gruelling 633-mile sponsored walk, Frank Roberts said: "I am appealing to the consciences of people who have not donated and am asking them to please make a donation as soon as possible because we all owe the men and women who have been injured in the service of their country - for all of us - a great debt.

Swanage Railway's Frank Roberts. Photo copyright Andrew P.M. Wright

"The sponsored walk has been a fantastic experience and one of my lifetime's ambitions. There have been many ups and downs, but it has been long and quite lonely at times. Averaging 18 miles a day, I have walked through heavy rain and sometimes the visibility had dropped to 100 metres.

"We have been in the middle of a huge national team effort for armed forces and veterans' commemorations and the 90th anniversary of the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal," explained Frank who lives in Swanage and London.

To read more on Frank Roberts' walk - and make a donation - via the Swanage Railway Army Link website - 'www.swanagearmylink.org.uk' here and 'www.thebaton.co.uk' here for more information on Frank's walk.

More information about the Heroes Haven Swanage charity can be found on their website at http://www.heroes-haven.org.uk/ here, and you can easily donate on-line via Paypal by clicking the button on the right. If you are kind enough to use Paypal to donate, please put SWCP in the Paypal 'message to seller' box. Thank You! Frank E Roberts

Details of the Swanage Railway's steam and diesel train services - as well as special events - are available by following the menu links on the left of this page or by calling 01929 425800.