Carshalton College’s Public Services Tutor, Chris Palmer, has made his 2012 New Year’s Resolution to lose weight and raise money for a charity close to his heart, Honour-our-Troops.

Chris feels it is time to shape up and his goal is to reach a weight of 14 stone. As extra motivation he is trying to get staff and students involved at Carshalton College to join him in losing weight and gather donations.

His fitness regime will include starting each day with a swim, hill walking and avoiding alcohol, fatty foods and eating his 5 a day. His weight at the beginning was 17 stone 5 pounds.

To help support Chris, donation boxes and sponsorship forms are around the College to raise money over the next few months. At the first weigh in on 1st February, Chris has lost a fantastic 11 pounds and raised £50.00. The next weigh in will be on 1st March.

Honour Our Troops assists serving and former serving members of the armed forces of the Crown and their dependents by providing relief from hardship, sickness, distress and bereavement. Their objectives are to - promote the armed forces - organise public events in honour and for the benefit of serving members and in memory of those who have died or been injured in armed conflict - advance the education of young people who are members of cadet organisations affiliated to the armed forces of the Crown by making charitable grants to those organisations to enable them to develop educational and training programs for cadets.

Chris is chairman of the charity and works with a team of volunteers committed to giving knowledge, expertise, time and effort to honour and support the British Forces.Chris spent 29 years working in a variety of roles in the Army as an instructor, before moving into teaching.

During his military experience, Chris took on the post as Ships Warrant Officer in support of the Royal Marines which allowed him to sail the seven seas, cross the equator twice, visit 49 countries, including the Far East, the Caribbean and the Arctic Circle. For 10 months he served in Kosovo as a Squadron Sergeant Major of 79 Railway Squadron. The variety of roles saw Chris teaching and training soldiers to be better soldiers, preparing them for promotion and varied alert states, and looking after their general well being.

The Public Services is a fantastic industry to enter with a variety of services to join. Carshalton College offers the BTEC Level 2 and BTEC Extended Diploma in Public Serviceslearning by completing projects and assignments that are based on realistic workplace situations, activities and demands. All services have tough entry criteria and these Public Service Diplomas provide a great focus on leadership and team work to prepare students. With a range of activities outside the classroom to replicate what the careers will entail, students attend command and control sessions, receive visits from the Marines, join trips to Army Camps and Prisons and take part in a variety of land and water based sports activities.

For more details, please visit www.carshalton.ac.uk Based on information supplied by Maxine Alexander.