Meet the ex-British soldier behind the 95-year-old war Veteran's charity walk

A 95-year-old Ghanaian World War Two veteran was honoured by Queen Elizabeth for his fundraising efforts. Private Joseph Hammond walked two miles (3.2km) a day for a week in May, raising £43,500 for frontline health workers and veterans in Africa.

Another individual deserving utmost recognition and praise is the young man behind the initiative and the one who has dedicated his time and life to serving the needs of veterans across the continent.

Inspired by fellow veteran Captain Tom Moore, who raised more than £32m in the UK to fight COVID-19, Derrick Cobbinah emulated the concept and guided Pvt. Hammond on the entire initiative including all the behind the scenes Administrative and Technological support.

Derrick Cobbinah has a multi-national inspiring experience supporting humanitarian logistics in harsh environments. He has a 14 year proven track record in managing human resources, transport, customer service, inbound and outbound logistics, reverse logistics, purchasing, procurement and outsourcing.

He devoted his youth and served ten years in the British Army, where he was awarded two tour medals (Afghanistan service medal and the Queen’s Jubilee Medal).

Derrick Cobbinah returned to Ghana in 2014 and joined NMS Infrastructure Limited (NMSI) as the Site Logistics Coordinator and Security Manager for two years. At NMSI Derrick headed a $175m project to provide six well equipped District Hospitals in Ghana

Derrick played a huge role in setting up the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) a chamber formed to facilitate trade between the UK and Ghana. He held the position of Trade Services Manager and progressed to Head of Operations.

Activities under his watch at the chamber was to monitor and evaluate DFID special projects- i.e. The UK-Ghana Investment Summit and the Private Sector Anti-Corruption Group (PSACG)

Whilst serving with The Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League (RCEL) as Project Officer for Africa, Derrick founded the Forces Help Ghana (FHG) in 2014 to further support veterans welfare. RCEL is in charge of supporting pre-independence veterans and widows across the commonwealth countries.

Forces Help Ghana expanded its operations to other African countries and is now known as Forces Help Africa (FHA). Forces Help Africa operates offices in South Africa, Liberia, Gambia and Sierra Leone.

The primary aim of Forces Help Africa is to provide support to veterans who are sick, injured or have fallen on hard times after serving their country. The highlight is on pre-independence veterans who served the crown or under the British command before their country gained independence. FHA also supports forces (i.e. Armed forces, Police, Fire Service etc.) from the various African countries with their career transition to civilian life and also recognize their extraordinary work/service in Africa through an awards event.

Forces Help Africa’s core focus areas are Welfare, Mental Health and Wellness, Training and Research & Consultancy.

A true son of the land, a selfless reflection of what true patriotism and devotion to mankind should look like. We celebrate his tremendous work and congratulate him especially on the recent achievements alongside Pvt. Joseph Hammond.