A charitable trust that was set up in memory of Flt Lt Rakesh Chauhan, who was killed in a helicopter crash last year, is organising its first event on 26th September to raise money. 29 years old intelligence officer was killed with four military colleagues in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, in April, 2014.
Flt Lt Chauhan, known as Rak, was honoured with a posthumous award for bravery in November last year. He received the Editor's Award for Bravery and Patriotism at the prestigious Asian Achievers Awards 2014, which was received by his father Kishor Chauhan. His family were guests of honour at a service at St Paul's Cathedral earlier this year, attended by the Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron to mark the end of the 13-year conflict that claimed 453 British lives.
Flt Lt Chauhan's father and brother will be among 60 people, including former RAF comrades, taking part in the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge later this week. The 25 miles walk in the Yorkshire is a challenging event. Kishor and brother Kesh hope to raise £10,000 for the trust and will be donating it to East Midlands Air Ambulance Service.
Kishor said: "The trust is now up and running and this will be the first event.
"Organising things like this in his memory keep us going.
"Rak was very passionate about the air ambulance service and the first event will be to raise money for the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance.
"Rak was an action man who loved the outdoor life which is why we've chosen this event to launch the trust's fund raising.
"I've been preparing by going up and down the hills in Bradgate Park. Some, like his RAF colleagues will probably do it in five or six hours, others will take longer, but we're confident of raising £10,000 by doing it.
"It's very much Kesh's idea and we didn't expect such an amazing response. We're hoping to stage one or two events a year."
Kesh, said: "The Air Ambulance Service is an organisation that was close to his heart and subsequently we support it fully.
"We are hoping to raise as much as possible to donate to the Derbyshire, Rutland and Leicestershire branch of the Air Ambulance Service, which was a cause that was very close to Rakesh."
He added: "The Local Royal Air Forces Association are donating 100 t-shirts to the trust upon which we will be printing the trust logo."
To donate to the event, visit https://www.justgiving.com/Y3PCRakstrust or www.rakstrust.org
