A GROUP of Southend United season ticket holders are walking 120 miles to an away game to raise cash for Help for Heroes.

Bob Mays, 55, is leading a group of nine Blues’ fans to hand deliver the match ball for the Oxford United away match on April 28.

Mr Mays, of Long Ridings, Basildon, served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps for 14 years before serving as a Metropolitan Police officer for 23 years.

He said: “I have always said it’d be nice to do something for Help for Heroes and the idea came up to walk to an away game. It went on the backburner a bit, but then I got a bee in my bonnet and said we had to do it.

“The number of amputees there are, and the number of people who have been killed in recent years in the Armed Forces is shocking.

“We don’t look after our troops well enough really and it will be great to raise as much as we can to help out.”

The group of walkers will set off at 8am from Roots Hall in Victoria Avenue, Southend, on April 25.

The walkers will head along the A127 and stop in Barking on their first night.

They will stop in central London and stay with the Grenadier Guards and stay with a TA branch in Uxbridge, in North West London, before heading along the A40 towards Oxford.

The group will walk about 30 miles each day. They have been backed by the club, including Blues chairman Ron Martin and former chief executive Geoffrey King.

Mr Mays said: “I asked Mr Martin if we could use the club’s name to promote the walk and he agreed and started e-mailing people for support which was absolutely brilliant.

“Hi-Tec came back pretty quickly and said it would be very happy to support us and it gave us all a pair of their walking boots, which was nice.”

The aim is to raise about £5,000 for the charity.

To support the group, visit www.bmycharity.com/Bob Mays