Help For Heroes Closes In On £100m Milestone

The charity Help for Heroes has raised nearly £100m from public donations - just three-and-a-half years after it was formed.

It is hoping a bike ride through the battlefields of France will push donations past the milestone.

More than 300 supporters are expected to take part in the Big Battlefield Bike Ride from Portsmouth to Paris.

Help for Heroes was founded in October 2007 by Bryn and Emma Parry after they visited the Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham and met young patients.

Their original aim was to raise £8m to build a new rehabilitation complex at Headley Court - the hospital that treats injured servicemen and women.

The couple both come from military families, and Mr Parry served for ten years in the Royal Green Jackets, now The Rifles, before leaving the Army in 1985.

Since the charity was founded, almost £90m has been spent on various projects.

Five personal recovery centres are currently being built for wounded service personnel across the UK with money raised by Help for Heroes.

The charity's patrons include Jeremy Clarkson, Ross Kemp and Sir Ian Botham.

Princes William and Harry - who are both serving in the military - have been seen wearing the charity's plastic wristbands.