AN ARMY veteran is set to celebrate his 60th birthday when he arrives in Catterick Garrison after a 268-mile sponsored run for Help for Heroes.

Phil Bartlett, from Spennymoor, has raised more than £80,000 for the charity and he hopes 2018 will be the year he reaches the £100,000 mark.

Mr Bartlett, 59, set off from Help for Heroes recovery centre, Chavasse House, in Colchester on August 13 at the start of his 268-mile run.

Covering an average of 15 miles a day, Mr Bartlett’s final leg on Thursday, August 30 will see him run from Catterick Racecourse to Phoenix House Recovery Centre where staff and beneficiaries will cheer him through the gate and present him with a birthday cake.

Over the past eight years, he has raised more than £80,000 for Help for Heroes through an annual clay pigeon shoot. He hopes his Garrison Gallop plus this year’s shoot, will take his total donation to £100,000.

However, training for the run did not go quite to plan for Mr Bartlett with a few minor injuries preventing him from doing as many miles as he would have liked, and a small tear in his hamstring in the days coming up to the start meaning he could only manage conditioning exercises.

“Whether my body will hold out we will have to wait and see!” said Mr Bartlett.

“At aged 59 years old this is the biggest challenge I’ve attempted,"

Mr Bartlett joined the Royal Corps of Transport in 1974. After tours in Germany, Northern Ireland, Canada and the Falklands, he left the army in 1991 having reached the rank of corporal. This experience of the military prompted him to raise money in aid of Help for Heroes.

“When you join the Armed Forces, you become a member of a family. You may not know them all but family they still are. When members of that family need support you try to do your best to help them. I feel that I have an obligation to support them in any way I can”.

Melanie Dickinson, manager of Phoenix House, said everyone at the centre was in awe of Mr Bartlett's latest fundraising endeavour.

“Phil is not one to shout about all he has done to help our wounded, injured and sick. He just quietly gets on with it and, once a year, drops into the recovery centre with a cheque.

“But we couldn’t let his latest – and most difficult – challenge go unmarked so we were delighted that he chose to end his mammoth run at Phoenix House, thereby giving us the opportunity to thank him and, of course, to wish him a very happy 60th birthday.

“With seven people a day being medically discharged from the military, Help for Heroes still has a big role to play in supporting them. We believe that those who put their lives second deserve a second chance at life. Without fundraisers like Phil, we wouldn’t be able to do this.”

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/garrisongallop.