Football fans walk 23 miles in Normandy for veterans charity

Summarised from BBC Hampshire's report · Updated 23 Oct, 07:15 · Archive

More than 45 Brighton and Portsmouth supporters are walking 23 miles in Normandy to raise money for Blind Veterans UK.

More than 45 Brighton and Hove Albion and Portsmouth Football Club supporters set off on a 23-mile walking tour in Normandy to raise money for Blind Veterans UK. The group left Portsmouth on Thursday night after watching Brighton draw in the Europa Conference League and includes five blind veterans. Before returning home on Sunday, they will visit significant sites including Pegasus Bridge, Ver-sur-Mer and Sword Beach, the most easterly of the five beaches where Allied forces landed on 6 June 1944.

Organiser Steve Darby said the group were going to pay their respects to those who died in the D-Day landings and Battle of Normandy, and to those who returned with eye loss and other conditions. The decision to include five blind veterans honours the same number who were involved in the D-Day landings. The group will end their tour at the British Normandy Memorial, which records the names of the 22,442 people killed on D-Day and at the Battle of Normandy, where they will unveil a plaque. All proceeds will go to Blind Veterans UK, which has a regional hub in Rustington.

Read the report

• Football fans tackle 23-mile walk for veterans charityForty-five Brighton and Hove Albion and Portsmouth Football Club fans are setting off for Normandy.BBC Hampshire · 23 Oct, 06:09

In this story: Brighton and Hove Albion · Portsmouth Football Club · Normandy · Blind Veterans UK · British Normandy Memorial · Sword Beach · Steve Darby

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