Army veterans, Olympic athletes and the Mayor of Elmbridge gathered at Esher Rugby Club on Sunday March 12 to fire the starting pistol on PentUp, a unique sporting competition in aid of leading military mental health charity, Combat Stress.

 

PentUp will see a combination of civilian and veterans competing in a Modern Pentathlon at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on October 13th/14th to raise funds for Combat Stress, which treats veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Using Esher Rugby Club as a training base, the competitors – who are all total novices – have just seven months to masters the arts of fencing, show jumping, swimming and a combined run and shoot before they arrive at Sandhurst for two days of heated competition.

"Boy, am I glad I came!" Elmbridge Mayor Tannia Shipley said in an impromptu and emotional speech at the conclusion of the pre-training presentations.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for everybody and I wish you all every success. Have a wonderful time today. I think this is absolutely fantastic."

The brains behind PentUp is Combat Stress psychiatrist and East Molesey resident Dr Simon Thompson.

Along with helping to raise funds to help treat the 2,000 veterans currently on the Combat Stress waiting list, Thompson has organised the event to be part of the veteran's treatment.

Research shows that training and preparing for a competitive multi-discipline sport has enormous benefits for PTSD sufferers. So, quite simply, Thompson is using PentUp to help the veterans recover through sport.

He explains: "Modern pentathlon works in treating PTSD veterans because it utilises the psychological skills gained through the cognitive behavioural therapies and emotional regulation techniques developed in the Combat Stress treatment programs."

Drop-in training sessions for PentUp will be held at Esher Rugby Club on Sunday mornings throughout the year. For information go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/PentUp/

Submitted by Philip Boucher