Walking Home For Christmas is an annual fundraising campaign for Walking With The Wounded, a charity that provides mental health, employment, care coordination and volunteering opportunities for vulnerable veterans. The campaign encourages anyone from any walk of life to register and fundraise by undertaking a walk to support veterans that need it.

Over the past seven years, thousands of people have taken part or organised their own, memorable, solo and team walks to raise essential funds. They've walked home, to a war memorial, to their old barracks and even carried a Christmas tree to a friend. Contrary to its name, the campaign encourages participants to do whatever creative activity they like and to get out and show support for those who have served.

This year, Walking Home For Christmas is all about tackling the mental health impact of the lockdowns. With the theme ‘Nobody left behind from lockdown’, The charity encourages its volunteer walkers to openly discuss mental health, whilst taking part in sponsored walks between 10th-20th December to raise funds for Walking With The Wounded’s vital mental health support programme.

Joel Oxberry, Head of Income at Walking With The Wounded, comments: “We felt that our Walking Home for Christmas campaign this year should address the mental health epidemic caused by the pandemic. With more people discussing their mental health, we felt this offered an opportunity to raise the mental health issues faced by veterans. Many veterans have trouble reintegrating into society, which can mean that relationships break down, unemployment can become more long term, and in the most severe cases, this can lead to alcohol or drug issues. Without our mental health support programme, these veterans would be unsupported. We, therefore, hope that focusing our fundraising on mental health will bring the public closer to understanding the devastating impact serving our country has and will have on the people who protect us.”

Walking Home For Christmas needs you! Every year dedicated volunteers raise enough funds to pay for thousands of mental health sessions for deserving veterans. You don’t need to be a veteran, or to have served in the military to take part, just get together in a group and come together to do a walk. Whatever your walk involves, every penny you raise goes towards supporting veterans and their families.

Alongside the ongoing support from the Army Cadet groups and organised groups, any individual can sign up and create their own fundraising page. To read more about previous walkers' stories and register to do a walk this year, visit Walking Home for Christmas