Officer honoured by charity for tireless work for the cause
MAJOR IS NAMED VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR
A SELFLESS Army officer from Aldershot has saluted a military charity’s support for veterans while accepting an award for his own contributions to the cause.
Major James Wadsworth MBE CGC, 45, has been named Volunteer of the Year by veterans’ mental health charity Combat Stress for his tireless and dedicated support.
The charity delivers specialist treatment and support to former servicemen and women across the UK with military-related trauma such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Maj Wadsworth first came to support Combat Stress through the charity’s inaugural Race to Remember ultramarathon, where he completed the 76km race so quickly (in just seven hours and 15 minutes) that he sparked a frantic dash from the organisers to set up the finish line.
According to the charity, he has since become a valued and tireless volunteer and Challenge Ambassador for Combat Stress, running webinars and providing support for participants of events including the London Marathon. He has also arranged vital corporate introductions that have been invaluable to the charity’s fundraising and awareness raising efforts.
Together with his partner Steph, who is also serving, he will be taking on Combat Stress’s D-Day 44 Challenge in June, a 44-mile ultramarathon across the Normandy beaches to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
The charity said his enthusiasm and support continues to be unwavering.
Maj Wadsworth was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, the second-highest military decoration of the British Armed Forces, for extraordinary courage in 2008 while serving as a bomb disposal expert in Iraq.
He rendered safe, by hand, and recovered one of the largest bombs ever found, saving a nearby hospital and prevented potentially severe and untold consequences.
In 2019, he was awarded an MBE for services to the armed forces and to military charities for whom, to date, he has raised nearly £100,000.
On his award, Maj Wadsworth said: “I am incredibly honoured to receive this award, but being recognised in this way is never at the forefront of your mind. My sole focus is on supporting the incredible and vital work of Combat Stress, and I only wish I could do more.
“I have lost two friends to PTSD, and many more deal with mental health issues every day. I give thanks for the award but I thank Combat Stress for helping my friends, in their hour of need, so much more. I will always be indebted to the charity and all the amazing people that make it possible. I salute you”.
Robert Marsh, the director of fundraising at Combat Stress, said: “We are so thankful to Major Wadsworth for his tireless and unwavering support. The awareness he has raised has been truly invaluable and we are delighted to award him with the well-deserved Volunteer of the Year award.
“No other charity does what we do. We provide the most comprehensive veteran mental health treatment service in the UK, but we could not continue to do so without what he and all our fundraisers and volunteers have done for us and the veterans who seek our help.”
On Thursday, February 22, more than 120 fundraisers and veteran volunteers attended Combat Stress’ annual Extra Mile awards at the Cavalry
and Guards Club, in London.
Hosted, for the first time, by the charity’s president Sir General Peter Wall (former Chief of General Staff ), the event was devised to celebrate and recognise the incredible selflessness and dedication of individuals, teams and companies whose achievements and innovative fundraising have gone above and beyond all expectation.
From tireless supporters like Maj Wadsworth to veterans who bravely shared their experiences of living with PTSD, the charity said the winners demonstrated the invaluable creative, tenacious and determined spirit of our veterans, volunteers and fundraisers.