Bike ride goes poppy-shaped for army medics

Army medics in Birmingham have raised money for the Royal British Legion ahead of next weekend’s Remembrance Sunday with a charity bike ride around the city, their route marking out the shape of a poppy.

The West Midlands city is home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM), based at Selly Oak Hospital, which is the main receiving hospital for forces casualties evacuated by air, including from war zones such as Afghanistan.

To mark that role, the ten-strong team, led by the RCDM’s Commandant, Brigadier Christopher Parker, started their six-hour ride at Birmingham International Airport, the entry point to the UK for those troops returning home.

Brigadier Parker told the Birmingham Mail: “The Royal British Legion does a tremendous job for service personnel past and present, and this fundraising cycle ride struck us as being a novel way of supporting the organisation at a time of year when we remember those who have given so much for the nation.”