The Parachute Regimental Association - Regimental Headquarters

24/10/2026

A new opportunity for Veterans living near Colchester

Free boxing fitness sessions for veterans and transitioning service personnel are coming to Colchester! 🥊

British and Commonwealth lightweight champion Louie O'Doherty will be running new sessions at the veteran-run LW Fitness Gym beginning on Wednesday 18th November. 🥇

Email [email protected] or follow horizon_warriors_cic on Instagram for more info!

18/10/2026

Did you know that your parachute wings are worthless? Hermes looks into this worrying revelation in the first of several reports tackling the creeping and highly questionable privatisation of military parachute training.

A Conspiracy to Usurp the Authority of the Secretary of State? By Prosper Keating The recent news that members of The Parachute Regiment’s Pathfinder Platoon underwent parachute training at Netheravon with instructors from British Skydiving caused consternation in some quarters. Before reading fur...

15/10/2026

International Commando Speed March (ICSM)

Welcome to the new International Commando Speed March (ICSM).

We are the only Commando Speed March event officially endorsed by the International Commando Heritage Trust:

Commando Association
Royal Marines Association (Scotland and N. Ireland)
Parachute Regimental Association

Date
The next Annual International Commando Speed March Competition – will be held at Spean Bridge on Saturday 6th March 2027.

The new contact email for the ICSM is: [email protected]

Charity Status
We are in the process of setting up the International Commando Speed March as an independent Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) to ensure the longevity of the event, its continued support to military charities and the local community.
Our accounts will be open and visible to all.

In recognising the cost-of-living crisis and ever scrutinised budgets we are reducing the race entry fee for all, but we will see an increase in the percentage of funds going to Charities with our new committee.

ICSM Committee
To ensure financial and Charitable compliance our new committee is made up of:

Committee President Brian Hume.
Chairman Damien Isherwood

Committee Members:
Lt Col Steven Sutherland
WO2 Billy Rodgers
Lt Col Barry Barnwell OBE RD Chair of the ICSM Heritage Trust.
Peter Oxley National Secretary of the Commando Association.
Paul Wilson Regional Chairman of RMA Scotland and NI. Chairman Highland Branch RMA.

Aim
The committee aim is to build upon our original Commando Speed March but professionalise the race and making it more open and inclusive to all, hence the rebrand to the International Commando Speed March.

We will do this with the support, over-sight and endorsement from the above recognised Charities and new committee members.
We intend to reduce the considerable overhead costs the previous event incurred and ensure a greater percentage of funding goes directly to service users/good causes.

Race Fees
We have reduced the race registration fees for all participants, and we will publish the race accounts annually. All information will be shared on social media and the new ICSM Website funded by the committee.

Mission
The primary race objective is to keep the memory of all Commando’s alive and raise funds for military Charities, military veterans in need and the local community that supports us so well.
Background

The International Commando Speed March is an annual charitable near 7-mile race with the intention of raising funds for military charities, military veterans in need and for the benefit of the local community and those that support the race (For example the local mountain rescue team and the Clan Cameron Museum).
The race closely follows the original route used as the first ‘challenge’ to select personnel for Commando training who, if successful, were trained in and around the grounds of Achnacarry House -the seat of Clan Cameron.

Achnacarry House became the Commando Basic Training Centre (CBTC) between 1942 and 1946, during which time some 26,000 UK and Allied commandos were trained.

The Route
Conducted over a near 7- miles of undulated route, starting at the Spean Bridge rail station and finishing at the gates to Achnacarry House.

Entry Requirements
The competition is open to the following:

Regular and Reserve personnel from HM Forces
Staff and Cadets; both CCF & ACF
Members of the UOTC
Veterans of HM Forces
Serving members and Veterans of foreign military units
Civilians

All entrants
All Participants should acknowledge that the event is physically strenuous. As such they must be medically fit to participate and take full responsibility for their own personal health and fitness. Participants are strongly advised to consult a doctor before undertaking any strenuous exercise or training programme or participating in the event. It is your responsibility to obtain any necessary personal insurance in connection with the event.

Entry / Registration Fee
The new entry fee is staggered
Serving Military and Reserves £25.
Veterans £25
International Runners £25
Cadets £20.
Non-Military fun runners/walkers £30

To be paid no later than 12th February 2027
BACs being the preferred method.

Until we are a registered Charity in our own right the funds for the race will be held and monitored by the International Commando Heritage Trust.

If you’d like joining instructions please email us at: [email protected]

15/10/2026

A year ago, the then-Veterans Minister Louise Sandher-Jones MP contributed this article to Hermes about the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. Ms Sandher-Jones survived the fall of the Starmer government and was subsequently promoted to the post of Armed Forces Minister.

https://hermesjournal.substack.com/p/the-northern-ireland-troubles-bill

15/10/2026

Hermes republishes its October 2025 article on the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill a year down the road.

The NITB survived the ousting of the Starmer administration and the Burnham government continues to force-feed it to veterans and the British public.

In the past few days, one of the only two regimental associations to have presented any kind of serious challenge to this proposed legislation — SASRA — has publicly condemned the amendments to the NITB as window-dressing.

The PRA has made no public comment, as such, but it does not require a degree in English to understand that the NITB contains no safeguards for Operation Banner veterans.

While the Hermes editorial team prepares an opinion-editorial on the Northern Ireland Minister's much-vaunted amendments and his meetings with PRA representatives, we invite you to read this article.

https://theparachuteregimentalassociation.com/hermes/nitb-a-sordid-backstairs-deal/

11/10/2026

The British government is navigating rough waters with its current approach to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill 2024.

It is putting itself in a position which will lead to conflict with veterans' groups and legal challenges.

At this juncture, one road leads to never-ending litigation in an attempt to placate a vociferous minority in Northern Ireland; and the other to destroying the bond with military veterans, serving members of the armed forces and potential recruits.

✍️ Philip Barden

Article | spectator.com/article/labour-is-destroying-the-trust-of-britains-military-veterans

11/10/2026

https://hermesjournal.substack.com/p/derek-chambers-painting-paratroopers

The Parachute Regiment’s Artist

02/10/2026

Veterans who are heading to the Remembrance Sunday Service and March Past the Cenotaph on 8 November 2026 can now travel in style.

The incredible Cabs-for-Veterans service, formerly known as Poppy Cabs, will once again provide free taxi journeys for veterans attending this year’s commemorations in London.

From 8am to 10am, hundreds of volunteer London taxi drivers will give their time and vehicles free of charge, helping veterans travel to and from the event. With all London taxis wheelchair accessible, the service is especially valuable for those with mobility needs.

Convenient ‘turn up and go’ hubs will be available across London, including major railway stations, Victoria Coach Station, the Victory Services Club and Union Jack Club.

♿ Veterans requiring a pre-booked journey due to mobility issues or special requirements should register by Wednesday 5 November by emailing: 📧 [email protected]

Funded entirely by the drivers themselves, Cabs-for-Veterans is a wonderful example of the taxi trade giving back to those who have served, ensuring more veterans can take part in this important national act of remembrance.

Cabs-for-Veterans operates from the following hub locations. No need to book, just turn up and look for the special marshals who will help you.

Euston Station
Fenchurch Street
Kings Cross (main line)
Liverpool Street
London Bridge
Marylebone
Paddington (main line)
Union Jack Club
Victoria (main line)
Victoria Coach Station
Victory Services Club
Waterloo (main line)
Admiralty Arch
Westminster Bridge

For more information and to register for a pre-booked journey please click on the link:

How Cabs for Veterans supports veterans attending Remembrance Sunday events across the UK.

30/09/2026

Some copyright scammers and IRA sympathisers bit off more than they could chew when they threatened the PRA. Hermes’ Alf Tupper tells the story.

It is people like this who not only emboldened and funded Fenian murderers and torturers but are still going so.

The founders of Magnum Photos would be not have approved of the once irreproachable Agencys new ways of monetising their members’ images.

When PRA HQ received a threatening demand on Saint Patrick’s Day 2026 for money in relation to the use in an article by Hermes History Editor Geoff Butler of a photograph of a victim of the Donegall Street bombing in March 1972 by Official IRA renegades who would later form the Provisional IRA, th...

28/09/2026

A couple of years after Hermes published this article on the Donegall Street bombing of March 1972, Magnum Photos demanded exorbitant fees and damages from the PRA with menaces of legal action.

The fact that the demand was made on Saint Patrick's Day, which some Americans celebrate as IRA Day, was not lost on observers at PRA HQ and RHQ PARA.

The matter was passed by PRA HQ to the Hermes editorial team, who sent Magnum CEO Caitlin Hughes a draft article for her comments on her firm's attempt at extortion and its proven history of publishing pro-IRA/Sinn Fein editorials on its website. Magnum rapidly withdrew its demands with menaces.

https://hermesjournal.substack.com/p/the-donegal-street-bombing-march?r=8titaw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true