Royal British Legion selects Oldham veteran as part of Team UK for 2025 Invictus Games

Paul “Charlie” Charles, from Oldham, has been selected by the Royal British Legion to represent Team UK at the Invictus Games in Canada in 2025 – the first Games to include winter sports.

In partnership with the MOD, the RBL has proudly revealed a 64-strong team, who are all wounded, injured and sick serving personnel and veterans.

The team have been preparing at the RBL’s Battle Back Centre in Lilleshall. 

With challenging physical and mental injuries sustained while serving the UK either at home or abroad, the multi-generational team includes participants from all services who have been selected based on the benefit that the Games will contribute towards their recovery.

Charlie said he is “honoured” to be chosen as part of Team UK.

He went on to say “I’m very thankful and grateful, I wasn’t expecting it.

"The training camps and everyone at the RBL have been amazing and I feel like this has come at the right time for me, to give me a focus on something.

"I’m chuffed!”  

Charlie Charles had served in the Royal Marines for 22 years, when one day in July 2020, cycling home from the barracks, he was hit by a car and suffered a serious traumatic brain injury.

Charlie suffered a broken neck, fractured ribs, shattered nose, blood clot in his spinal cord and a bleed in the left lobe of his brain, which affects how he processes information.

Charlie spent time recovering at the Defence Medical and Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) and at the Naval Service Recovery Centre Hasler in Plymouth, before being discharged in January 2023.

Being in the Marines was all Charlie had ever known, and ever wanted to do, and he is still coming to terms with the fact that he is no longer serving.

He was inspired to apply for Invictus to not only rebuild his confidence, but to make some new friends within the veteran community, to help him adjust to civilian life.

Established in 2014 by Prince Harry, the Invictus Games is an international adaptive multi-sport event for wounded, injured, and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans to participate in as part of their recovery journey.

Louise Assioun, RBL’s Team UK Manager, said: “For the selected individuals, being part of a team again, representing their country and being around others who are all on their individual recovery pathway is what makes Team UK’s journey to the Invictus Games so unique.

"The Royal British Legion is proud to support them every step of the way.”

The Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 will take place from February 8-16.

The Games utilise the power of sport to inspire recovery and support rehabilitation, showcase the fortitude and resilience of military personnel and their families, improve respect and understanding for those with disabilities, and those who serve or have served their country.

While the RBL is well known for supporting veterans of the Second World War, the charity is also supporting younger veterans from more recent conflicts through their recovery journey. 

The RBL’s Battle Back Centre uses adaptive sport and adventure activities to help improve confidence and positively impact mental health and wellbeing, helping people achieve their best possible recovery and either return to Service duty or make a smooth transition to civilian life.

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