I am a disabled army veteran. I was injured in Iraq in 2003, but I haven’t let it stop me being the best I can be in sport.

I have been competing in wheelchair fencing for several years at national level and have just been selected to take part in the Paris World Cup in October. I hope that this will be the start of my international journey to try to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic games.

It is a great honour to represent Great Britain in wheelchair fencing, however, since losing UK Sport funding all wheelchair fencers now have to self-fund their costs for international events.

This includes the cost of travel, accomodation, entry fees and associated kit.

If I am to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympics I need to compete in all qualifying events between now and May 2016; there are five, the first being the Paris World Cup in October. If I can compete in all of the events and perform well I could qualify for Rio 2016.

I have also taken part in the Invictus Games, an international event for injured, sick, wounded, forces/ex forces personell and hope to do so again in 2016.

At the moment these are just dreams though as I am struggling to manage the expense of training for both Invictus and international fencing though so if you are able, please donate what you can to help me achieve my aims.

I have just this week taken part in the World military Games, competing in archery and the team I was part of came fourth just missing out on a bronze medal so I believe that with the right training and equipment I can bring back a medal from the Invictus games next year.

any kind donations will go towards my fencing and also towards archery too as I feel I can do well in both sports as my previous results have shown. My Current UK ranking for fencing is 4th and with the performance at the military games I feel sure I can be successful in both sports if given the time.

In the longer term I also hope to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, so Invictus and International fencing will be invaluable experience for the Tokyo 2020 Parlaympic games.

I may be disabled but I AM the master of my fate and I can achieve my dreams.

Thank you for reading

Duncan