Throughout these challenging times, the British Army has stepped up to serve the local population when it was needed the most.

Two soldiers from the North West were amongst those deployed to assist with the asymptomatic mass testing pilot in Liverpool in November 2020. Lance Sergeant Matt Foley and Guardsman John Bogg, both serving with 1st Battalion Irish Guards were on site helping the public and processing tests.

LSgt Foley was deployed set up and run the quick turnaround COVID-19 lateral flow test centres. This wasn’t the first time Lance Sergeant Foley had been deployed to aid the COVID response effort, during the summer he was involved in running a mobile testing unit.

Guardsman Bogg has been assisting with the staffing and running of a COVID test unit alongside 2000 other soldiers. Although a far cry from two years ago when he was serving in Kenya avoiding buffalo attacks, he says “We are currently manning testing units, so it is a bit different to our normal routine of getting out the door to do training.  It has been a positive experience and the people of the city have been very welcoming, as expected due to its reputation for being a very warm hearted and strong city.”