Testimonials

I was very fortunate to get involved with VetRun180 through one of my friends who had been on a couple of trips prior to my involvement. I was very lucky to go to Scotland in 2021 with the charity in one of their adapted hand controlled Land Rovers which was epic!

We drove from the East coast to the West coast over some of the most remote and tough terrain you could imagine.

A couple months later I was asked if I would like to go to Sweden snowmobiling and try a team leader role. I jumped at the opportunity!! Sweden is one of the best countries I have ever visited. The trip was very challenging for myself but the team helped and supported me when I needed it.

I was with a great bunch of like minded individuals, it was awesome to be back operating in a team environment, amazing to be outdoors in the wilderness, the country was beautiful, the guides were fantastic, food was amazing & the accommodation was perfect (hunting lodges).

Its really nice to be able to participate in these types of ”Adventure Therapy" expeditions and challenge yourself, developing new skills and putting yourself in new situations you never thought you’d be in.
I am very grateful to be a part of the team and now I am helping other veterans with changing their lives for the better and enabling them to also have positive views on life.

Thank you VetRun180 for everything you have and are doing for the UK WIS community.

I don't really have any words to accurately describe the week just gone.
It's was full throttle ski-doos, Banter & belonging from day one.
The reality of it’s impact is finally setting in.
I didn’t want to leave the country,
I didn’t want to leave the lads,
And most importantly I didn’t want this dream experience to end.

I found where I belonged.
I found who I am inside,
I found the me I've locked away for years since leaving the mob,
this was purely down to the lads, the Team leaders & Our guide.

This group of misfits became my family in the space of days.

We are all broken shards of the same mirror, but when together, we reflect back a perfect picture of teamwork, brotherhood loyalty, respect, and camaraderie.

This will week never be forgotten, never be replaced, and never be replicated.

But it's time to come home, and with it bring that old smiling me back too,
the me that hid away fractured & frightened after 2009.

I'm alive, I'm still here and I will be me again.

This wouldn’t have been possible without the TL’s, The Benefactors, The Guides & Hosts involved with Vetrun180, they are the real heroes here, changing lives one Exped at a time.

Tom - VetRun180 - Beneficiary

If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you!

Finding VetRun180 has been the best thing to happen to me, the challenges I have overcome and the difference I feel and others see within myself is staggering, I never thought myself capable of achieving what I have during the trip.
Sam - VetRun180 - Beneficiary

Vetrun180 are delivering an excellent opportunity for former service personnel from a wide spectrum of conflicts to do something which harps back to their former life in the military. Challenge, team work, living outdoors and having a good laugh. Great trip in good company.

I have come home with a sense of achievement, totally knackered, but with a clear head and a feeling of belonging. Whilst the driving is challenging, at times hard graft and very enjoyable, it is the evenings, sat around a fire or under an awning chewing the fat with people who get you that also really helps.

I found myself waiting in the airport for a bunch of lads who I had never met or spoken to before. Almost instantly, when the team all arrived, it just seemed like everyone fell back into the banter and family like team spirit that is so missing in society that only serving or ex serving members will ever truly understand.

The trip was, by far, something that really was needed for myself personally, having the time away with like-minded individuals who can share their own experiences in an amazing setting was a huge, and much needed, reset for me
I was finding things difficult to adjust in civilian life and I found myself getting distant from things that were important.

The trip really helped myself understand that many others are going through the same as me. By being placed in this team brought back a sense of belonging and togetherness and adventure.
Personally, I ticked off many things that were on my bucket list on the trip.

The Arctic Circle, Snowmobiling through the Swedish Lapland, seeing the Northern Lights to name but a few.

I experienced some of the best memories of my life, with some of the most amazing people that I have had the pleasure of spending time with.
Sharing this trip with the highest calibre of people was simply phenomenal.

l owe a lot to the VetRun180 family, you have supported me and I will forever be grateful for what you stand for and what you help others like myself achieve.
Thank you to all the team leaders as you are not only inspirational but a real credit to the charity.

I had heard of Vetrun180 on quite a few occasions, Ross Turner one of the Team leaders was my Section Commander in basic training and we stayed in touch.

I’d seen he had been a part of quite a few expeditions in the past that looked amazing, after catching up with him on the phone one morning and chatting about things that only people who have served can relate to he said that I qualified to go on an expedition and said why don’t you apply. I did and after speaking to another Team Leader from the charity I was asked if I would like to go go on a trip with VetRun180.

It sounded like the trip of a lifetime “Ski-mobiling around the Arctic Circle “ I really couldn’t turn it down!

I joined the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards in September 2005 and It was always my intention to serve my full 22 years but unfortunately in 2010 whilst serving in Afghanistan, I was hit by an I.E.D and this lead to my medical discharge in 2013.

I don’t want to come across as selfish but I really needed this trip and I know that Sweden will be one of the best adventures I ever got to be part of.

How many people can say they’ve snowmobiled around the arctic circle, been ice finishing, seen and ate Reindeer and witnessed the Northern Lights!

Also this trip wouldn’t have been the same without the blokes, apart from Ross I’d never met the other lads on this trip, we all had our own personal reasons for being there, some physically and some mentally but we were all there for the same reason. A strong brotherhood was formed in just 7 days and the banter was on a different level.

I’d like to thank every single one of them for listening, sharing stories and making memories of a lifetime.

BIG BIG THANK YOU TO VETRUN180, from the Trustees, the Team Leaders and all the people behind the scenes to make this work and who help so many veterans on different trips around the world.

I first heard of Vetrun180 through the Royal Marines network back in 2018. They were looking for applicants for a trip to Oman and I knew nothing more about it than that.

When my application was successful, I spent 10 days driving jeep wranglers through the rub-al-khali desert with 15 other veterans. I didn't know when I applied how much I needed that time away with the blokes.

After the expedition I approached my normal life with a refreshed mind and a more positive attitude. Since then, I have guided a cold weather expedition in Sweden, and then was invited to be a team leader on two Scotland expeditions, driving off road from East to West Coast.

The opportunity not only to be around the blokes as a beneficiary, but to also give back and lead expeditions, has been eye-opening, humbling, exciting and extremely rewarding all at the same time!

An exceptionally well-planned expedition that really took veterans out of their comfort zones, taking them back to their roots by making them work together as a team. Thoroughly recommended for those needing to reconnect with themselves and start to carve out their future.

Sweden has been such an emotional week for me, being back with the lads that understand me and how and why I feel the way I do.

I'm lucky to be here now and needed this get away with VetRun180. This trip away has reset my thoughts and perspective on life, l've made new friends which I look forward to doing more with in the future, it's given me a new purpose in life have set new goals and have new plans to get on with.

I would like to thank the team in Sweden for taking us around the northern part of their beautiful country. I want to thank the vetrun180 team for allowing me to experience this journey and the lads on the ground know how much this has meant and done for me.

Benny - VetRun180 - Beneficiary

If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you!