At the end of June a group of wounded serving and ex-servicemen came to Majorca to train to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Today (Thursday) they were expected to have reached the summit.
The group was one of four which the Not Forgotten Association, with the full support of the Majorca Daily Bulletin, the local community in Majorca and a very hospitable British resident in Pollensa brings out to the island every year.
The trips are supposed to be holidays at a large finca in the north of the island where wounded Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, with their partners, can get away from daily life at home, the routine of rehabilitation etc. and relax. However, this last group in June were here on a special mission. They were here to begin training in the Majorcan mountains for a fundraising climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. Since then, due to their injuries, a few have been advised by their medics to abort the mission, but on 25 September, ten serving and ex-service men and women – including a number of amputees and others with brain or sight injuries - flew out from Heathrow to embark on their gruelling challenge. All of those who trained here in Majorca made the final cut to climb up to the 19,335 feet (5,895 metres) summit of the mountain.