HUNDREDS of motorcyclists will travel through Wiltshire to pay their respects to military personnel and families on Sunday.

The Ride of Respect will travel through MoD Lyneham and Royal Wootton Bassett as more than 500 veterans, serving soldiers, and supporters get on their bikes for a good cause.

They will commemorate the fallen service personnel who were repatriated through MoD Lyneham when it was an RAF base.

Amanda Wood-Woodley volunteers for the Ride of Respect charity and has organised this year’s event.

She said: “I talk to veterans every day and a lot of my family are military.

"When veterans return home, they feel that they don’t get the support they need.

“This ride is all about raising awareness of this issue, paying our respects, and supporting small military charities.

"I prefer supporting smaller charities that often get overlooked because they really need support and you know that all the money you give is going towards helping people.

"With big charities, some of the donated money goes towards all the admin costs."

The annual Ride of Respect has raised more than half a million pounds for various military charities since it began a decade ago and thousands of people have taken part in it.

This year’s chosen charity is Who Dares Cares, which supports people from all walks of life with PTSD

The charity offers weekend retreat facilities for PTSD sufferers and their families, as well as PTSD awareness sessions and confidential talks where clients can vent and express themselves privately to volunteers and people who have been in similar situations.

Who Dares Cares don’t have any full time staff, but their volunteers come from a range of military, health and social care backgrounds,

The Ride of Respect route begins in Calne, then leads to MoD Lyneham, where the riders will drive along the runway past a display of military vehicles and the base’s Head of Establishment, Colonel Ed Heal OBE, will give a short speech.

After visiting the memorial at the base, the riders will then pass through Royal Wootton Bassett and go to RAF Brize Norton.

The route ends opposite the repatriation gates after the group has paid their respects at the Brize Norton base’s memorial to the fallen.

Pre-event registration has closed, but anyone can join the riders by registering on the day.

For more information about the event and to make a donation to their cause, visit therideofrespect.co.uk