Operation Last Post will see sportsmen and women playing 54 games of hockey (more than we play in a whole season) and undergoing 457km of physical challenges in nine days from Friday 26 May to Saturday 3 June, starting in Ben Rhydding, Yorkshire and finishing in Portsmouth.

The aim is to raise £100,000 for Help for Heroes, the charity that supports British military personnel and their families to live well after service.

The squads will take on various endurance and military challenges over 457 kilometres, which will include rowing, swimming, running a half marathon, a weighted speed march and stretcher-carry marches. The km figure has been chosen to recognise the 457 British service personnel killed during the war in Afghanistan, in acknowledgement of their ultimate sacrifice. The objective is to allocate each kilometre to every individual fallen hero from this conflict in remembrance.

It’s going to be really tough but the squad will be spurred on by the thought of raising money for a great charity and knowing that the pain will be short lived compared to war veterans and their families.

The final two days are the most local to Reading and if you are close by, or fancy a day watching hockey and supporting a good cause, please join the team – Aldershot on Friday 2 June and Portsmouth on Saturday 3 June. Full schedule link in the updates on Just Giving page.

Please support the team, with anything you can spare: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/katharine-pike-oplastpost