Defence minister to visit Battle Back Centre
Defence minister Dr Andrew Murrison has agreed to visit a Shropshire centre which uses sport to help with the rehabilitation of military personnel injured in the line of duty.
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Dr Murrison accepted an invitation from Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, to visit the Battle Back Centre in Lilleshall during a session in the House of Commons.
The Battle Back Centre was established by the Royal British Legion in 2011, in collaboration with Sport England, to support wounded and injured service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
It was initially set up to help them come to terms with their injuries through adaptive sports such as wheelchair basketball, archery, mountain biking, climbing and caving. But more recently it has expanded its support to cover wellbeing and mental health issues.
Mr Pritchard told Dr Murrison that the centre had now treated more than 6,000 serving or ex-service personnel.
"The staff there are fabulous, superb, and they deserve a visit," he said.
Dr Murrison said he would happily take up the invitation.
"Battle Back does a wonderful job, I pay tribute to what it does," he replied.
Dr Murrison, served in Iraq as a medical officer in 2003 after being called up as a naval reservist while an MP.
He did a six-month tour of duty, despite voting against the war.
