Husband and wife Neil and Mo Randall got a surprise, when they were presented with an award for their fund raising for services charities – by the highest ranked officer in the British Army.
Neil and Mo – who work for Plymouth-based fire and security company Securi-Guard – thought they were at The Royal Citadel recently to present commemorative medals to families of the fallen.
But the couple got a shock when General Sir David Richards – who was at the ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of 29 Commando Regiment – gave them a certificate in recognition of their fund-raising and support for ex-members of the regiment.
Neil, a former commando himself who served in the Falklands, said: “It was a complete surprise. One minute we were both presenting the medals we had commissioned to commemorate the 50th anniversary and then we were asked to step into the mess. The general came over to Mo and myself and then out of the blue presented us with the commendation. It was an amazing gesture and we were both speechless.”
Both Neil and Mo have been helping to raise £25,000 for various services charities, including Help for Heroes, but also smaller forces charities, often in greater need of cash, such as Force’s Children’s Trust and Hounds for Heroes.
The commendation was also to mark the work Neil and Mo do to keep ex-service members in touch with each other.
For the past ten years Neil has run a monthly Regroup meeting for ex-members of 29 Regiment, now held in the Sgts Mess at the Citadel. Over the years membership has grown and there are now groups as far afield as Spain and Australia.
Mo – who works as an administrator at Securi-Guard – with other walkers did a 30 mile yomp across Dartmoor over the August Bank Holiday weekend – following in the footsteps of her hubby who did the same challenge two years ago with fellow Securi-Guard employee Dave Campbell.
Neil, who works as Human Resources Manager at Securi-Guard, said: “Mo had the worst of the conditions for her yomp. It absolutely poured it down and the whole moor was a bog. The rivers were so flooded we had to do a human chain to make sure everyone got across okay. They all showed incredible determination, endurance and stamina to complete the walk.”
Mo and the other walkers expect to raise around £3,000 for the Hounds for Heroes charity from the event.
