NINE veterans pitched in and helped to restore two of the 10 famous Fovant Badges.

The scheduled monuments and war memorial hillside chalk carvings have been given a makeover thanks to the efforts of the team assembled by veterans’ charity Alabaré. 

Over three weeks the team carefully restored the chalk surface, removing weeds and helping to maintain two badges on the renowned heritage site. 

Royal Signals veteran and lead manager Neil Hunt said: "Given a task of this magnitude and short time span, taking in the inclement weather and the challenging 30-degree slope, the team did an outstanding job on the maintenance of this incredibly important heritage site.

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"The team's ethos, enthusiasm and commitment were evident from start to finish.

"As an ex-warrant officer of the Royal Signals of 23 years' service, I am incredibly proud and humbled to witness the incredible work done to maintain this part of our history.”

The Royal Signals Badge and The Centenary Poppy Badge were the focus of the teams’ efforts, with a full maintenance programme also planned from spring 2023.

The veterans were all from charity Alabaré, which provides homes and services for ex-forces personnel who have become homeless or who have struggled with their mental health and well-being. 

The dedicated group from Alabaré’s Boots on the Ground programme are focused on helping veterans improve their mental and physical wellbeing by taking part in activities outdoors. They are particularly interested in supporting heritage projects connected to the military. 

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They were working in collaboration with the Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club and other veteran volunteers.

The Fovant Badges mark the location of accommodation training camps set up for troops travelling to and from the front line during the First World War. 

As a token of their regimental pride and latterly in remembrance, several regiments carved their cap badges into the chalk hills. 

Many of these replica insignia did not survive, but at the end of the war, there were 20 that were clearly discernible, with 12 visible from the A30 through Fovant, Compton Chamberlain and Sutton Mandeville.

Leslie Brantingham, conservation officer for the Fovant Badges Society, said: "The Alabaré team did a fantastic job in restoring the faces of these two badges, a great achievement as no one had had any previous experience of working on these slopes.

"It is challenging and Alabaré and the team rose to that challenge with determination and good humour. The result is plain to see on Fovant down."