How Rome's team rose to the Challenge

A MERCIAN infantryman from Uttoxeter has won a national charity award after spearheading a campaign to raise £31,000 in aid of veterans' mental health.

- By MAIL REPORTER

Rome Wilkinson led a team of current and former Army personnel to complete a series of extreme fundraising challenges, each more intense than the last, including:

■Box jumping the height of Mount Everest;

■Dragging a Land Rover for a marathon;

■Bear-crawling a full marathon on Bournemouth Beach.

Their 2025 challenges also included pulling a challenger tank for 1,500 metres, completing a 10-mile burpee broad jump while on deployment in Estonia, and for Armistice completing 100 burpees for every name on the war memorial of Rome's home town of Uttoxeter.

In recognition of the staggering amount of money raised for Combat Stress, the team has been awarded Challenge Champions of the Year by the veterans' mental health charity.