Forces veteran praises Melton's Tesco team during charity challenge

We reported last week how Chris McDowell was covering the distance on foot and bike in just 15 days to raise money for Combat Stress, a charity which supports the mental health of those who have served in the armed forces.

To make it even more difficult, he is carrying a 3kg medicine ball all the way, ‘a physical reminder of the invisible weight that so many veterans carry each and every day as they live with PTSD, anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges’.

Chris (39) is a maintenance technician with Tesco and is dropping in on colleagues at stores en route from Edinburgh to Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire.

Day nine of his epic trek took him from Dinnington to Worksop and then Melton Mowbray’s Tesco supermarket off Thorpe Road, a total of 57 miles.

Emotions were running high as Chris was welcomed by the Melton team to great fanfare.

He wrote on his blog: “Every store has welcomed me with open arms — but something about today, about this leg, about the exhaustion and what was waiting for me… it broke through.

"My heart is opening more with every step of this challenge, and my emotions are starting to show the moment I reach each destination.

"At Melton, the team had gone all out.

"A welcoming parade of colleagues, cake, ice cream, music, handshakes, pictures — I mean, honestly, I say this every time, but it never becomes less overwhelming.

"These are people who had never met me, yet they made me feel like someone who mattered.”

Chris said that he spoke to staff about his cause and they chatted about the importance of looking after the mental health of workmates.

"There’s something truly special about Melton Mowbray,” he wrote in his blog.

“The morale is incredible. You can feel that they don’t just work together — they care about each other.

"Genuinely. I’ve felt supported at every stop, but here… I really felt it in the atmosphere, in the conversations, and in the way the team functioned.

“That culture starts from the top — and the top here is store manager Rehana. Talking to Rehana, I could see exactly where her team got their togetherness from.

"I listened to every word she had to say — and honestly, I almost hung on it. It was infectious. She really does care.

"What I witnessed today was a team that clearly feels seen, heard, and valued. That’s rare. And it’s special.”

The 10th leg took Chris from Melton to Oakham, where he was given another warm welcome by colleagues.

Chris will be visiting 19 Tesco stores on his journey, finishing at the company HQ in Welwyn Garden City on Wednesday.

He has raised nearly £3,000 so far.

Go onine at https://events.combatstress.org.uk/fundraisers/Onemanandhismedball/one-man---his-med-ball to read his blog and pledge money to the cause.