A VETERAN passionate about giving back to the charity that helped him reclaim his life has become one of the most successful JustGiving fundraisers of 2015.

Justin Henderson, a former army postal courier who broke his back in an accident just months after being promoted to Sergeant, took part in Help for Heroes Hero Ride from Catterick Garrison to Windsor in 2015.

With a prosthetic vertebrae and limited mobility, Mr Henderson, 40, struggled to imagine what life beyond the military would entail.

But Help for Heroes centre Phoenix House, in Catterick Garrison, opened many doors for the father of two and, having been grant-funded a recumbent bike by the charity, Mr Henderson set himself a target to get fit enough to take part in the 2015 Hero Ride from Catterick to Windsor.

He had to raise £1,000 to secure his place but he collected at various local venues, including shopping centres, supermarkets and motorway services.

He publicised his challenge by setting up his recumbent trike turbo trainer and pedalling away while promoting the support given by Help for Heroes to him and hundreds of other wounded, injured and sick service personnel, veterans and their families.

And when he reached is £1,000 target, he changed it to £2,000, then £3,000 - and just kept on going.

“I am like a dog with a bone – once I get hold of an idea, I just run with it and keep on running for as long as I can,” said Mr Henderson, who now works part-time on the reception desk at Phoenix House.

“And the great thing is that, at the same time as fundraising, I am getting in a lot of training at the same time. On a good day, I can pedal up to 40 to 60 miles, and chat to the generous passing public at the same time.”

Mr Henderson’s hard work paid off and he raised £3,665 before he even pushed the first pedal on his longest bike ride ever – 308 miles - to the finishing line at Windsor racecourse.

His achievement earned him a message from JustGiving, who informed him he had exceeded his original target by 266.5 per cent had put him in the top one per cent of its 532,141 fundraisers in 2015.

Mr Henderson has this year been given a place on the Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride in June - 350 miles over five days following the Western Front in Northern France, starting in Ypres and finishing in Verdun.

His target now stands at £10,000 and has pitches secured at all four entrances of the Metro Centre in Gateshead on Saturday, April 2; and permission to erect his recumbent trike outside York’s Bettys Café in St Helen’s Square on Saturday, April 30, of May Bank Holiday weekend.