A TEENAGER whose brother has served on the frontline in Afghanistan is raising cash for Help for Heroes by knitting a giant wristband.

Lottie Keeble, 18, decided to start the project when her brother Alistair returned home from a tour in Afghanistan with the Royal Marines 40 Commando and has
now won the backing of a rather famous couple.

Alistair, 22, was welcomed home with his comrades in October at a celebratory medals parade at Somerset County Cricket ground in Taunton, and in attendance were Christine and Neil Hamilton.

Lottie soon found herself talking to the Hamiltons, who she said were lovely, and she told them all about her project.

She said: “Christine was so nice and seemed genuinely interested in my knitting.

“She was wearing a Help for Heroes wristband herself so she obviously cares about the charity too.

“They even sponsored me £20 and since then they’ve written to me telling me to
keep up the good work.”

Lottie, from Burton in Rossett, knitted the seven-foot-long wristband – a foot to mark each month her brother served in Afghanistan – in just one week.

She is delighted by how much support she has received, even though the challenge was not quite as exciting as she had intended.

She said: “At first I’d planned to do a parachute jump but the weather’s been so awful I wasn’t able to, so the next best thing was knitting.

“I’ve never knitted before so it was still a big challenge and I thought it’d be nice to use the same colours as the Help for Heroes wristband.

“I’ve already raised more than £400, with the help of the Hamiltons, and I’m hoping to auction the finished band on eBay to raise a little bit more.”

Many of Alistair’s comrades were not lucky enough to return home in full health and these are the wounded soldiers supported by Help for Heroes.

The charity raises funds to provide better facilities for servicemen and women injured in conflicts involving British armed forces.

Lottie, who works at Benisons Nursery in Chester where she is training for her Level 3 NVQ in childcare, added: “I am very proud of my brother but it’s so hard to see him go off to war and I know he wants to go back out to Afghanistan to continue fighting.

“There’s a lot of young men in the forces near my home and everyone knows about Help for Heroes so I really wanted to do whatever I can to support them.”