The relay rowing machine team will ‘row’ 77km from Dover to Dunkirk to raise £250 for Scotty's Little Soldiers at an event hosted at the Imperial War Museum in London on 3 July. It’s the distance sailed by a flotilla of rescue boats during evacuation of allied troops in WW2.

Scotty’s Little Soldiers is a military charity which supports bereaved military children who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the armed forces.

Rower Alastair Smith, one of our senior projects managers served in the Royal Engineers from 1999 to 2022, including work in Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Sudan.

Alastair said: 

Nikki Scott, founder of Scotty’s Little Soldiers, said:

Three of the rowing relay team are army reservists, like Alastair, who can spend up to 18 paid days leave each year working on their military duties.

Alastair supports our armed forces recruitment and urges those leaving the military to make early contact with us for help with CV-writing and civilian work attachments.

He explained:

Between ourselves and UK Power Networks, we employ 75 military veterans and have a gold award in the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme for our commitment to the armed forces. We have a long-standing relationship with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), which supports Armed Forces leavers.

Natasha Paramasamy, STEM outreach specialist at UK Power Networks, said: