THE mother
of a fallen Southam soldier has paid tribute to 30 of his former comrades
taking part in a charity bike ride in his honour.
Private Jeff
Doherty, known as JJ, was gunned down in Afghanistan last June just days after
his 20th birthday.
Now, four of
his former school pals have been joined by members of the 2nd Battalion of the
Parachute Regiment to cycle from Southam to JJ’s former barracks in Colchester,
Essex.
Money raised
from the three-day challenge will be donated to JJ’s Memorial Fund to help the
families of military personnel killed or maimed in combat.
Joyce
Wakefield, who raised JJ from childhood with Jeff’s father, Jeff Doherty Snr,
said all soldiers taking part had served with JJ fighting against Taliban
forces.
She said:
“We don’t see many soldiers in this part of the world and it would be great if
we could show them we appreciate what they are doing.
“I started
JJ’s charity just a few days after he died. It was just a way of dealing with
it.”
JJ’s
Memorial Fund has now raised a staggering £10,000.
“I just
wanted to bring something positive out of a horrible situation,” she said.
“The plan
was to raise money around the time of his funeral and then we just assumed it
would stop.
“But the
reaction since has been amazing. One young boy came around and handed me an
envelope with £5 in – it was all the pocket money he had saved. It has been
absolutely brilliant.”
Joyce added
she would also like to use some of JJ’s Memorial Fund to give something back to
the local community who had been so supportive.
School
friend Steve Williams, who organised the event, said he came up with the idea
two days after hearing of JJ’s death.
“I kept it
to myself for a while because I didn’t want to get people’s hopes up.
“He was a
lovely lad and a fighter. He did his bit for us so now we are just trying to do
something for him.”
The
challenge will be launched from St James’ Church on Wednesday February 25.
Anyone wishing to contribute can send cheques to JJ’s Memorial Fund, 14 Coventry Road, Southam,
CV47 1EB.
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Coventry News 
