Keep heroes in mind when raising funds

I have been very lucky to have met and subsequently got to know a small number of truly inspiring people, who by association were mainly from a sporting background, and Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Clive Woodward have greatly influenced my own personal drive and determination.

However, last Thursday evening at a dinner near Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, I met a truly inspirational man and a real hero in every sense of the word — Major Peter Norton. He was severely injured in Iraq on 24 July 2005 while going to the aid of a US patrol that had been attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED).

He was checking for the presence of further devices when a second IED exploded and he lost his left leg, part of his left arm, and sustained serious injuries to his other leg and back.

Despite his injuries he continued to give instructions to his team, suspecting that further devices were in the vicinity. He refused to be evacuated until he was certain that all personnel on the ground were aware of the danger.

A third device was subsequently located and dealt with the following day. Norton was awarded the George Cross in March 2006, one of only 23 awarded since the end of the Second World War.

His drive and determination are beyond belief, returning to work in the Royal Logistic Corps and being appointed an ambassador with Help for Heroes, the charity that was formed to raise much-needed funds for our injured servicemen and women in Iraq

and Afghanistan.

The dinner was a reunion as 41 of us spent seven days climbing up and down Kilimanjaro in June and raised £183,000, of which £105,000 was presented to Help for Heroes.

Late in the night Norton mentioned a couple of pubs to me that had adopted Help for Heroes as their nominated charity and had decided to raise funds for 12 months.

These events have been massively supported by local communities, which has been great for the pubs' tills, and a number of these customers commented that they could see that Help for Heroes was making a real difference to our injured troops.

So if you haven't as yet adopted a charity for your business, please remember the sacrifice Norton made and consider supporting Help for Heroes.

Finally, for us older chaps trying to play golf, wasn't it fantastic to see Darren Clarke win the Open and — even better — address the world's media with a pint in his hand?