Brigadier Chris Murray CBE, Commander of 143 (West Midlands) Brigade

The Commander of the Army in the West Midlands has shed more than a stone in just two months raising hundreds of pounds for charity.

Brigadier Chris Murray CBE, Commander of 143 (West Midlands) Brigade, based at Copthorne Barracks, Shrewsbury, piled on the pounds during his two years in the post.

After hitting the scales at 13 stone six pounds he decided enough was enough, and in front of 100 military and civilian colleagues pulled off his boots, stood on the scales and pledged to lose a stone in eight weeks.

Today, at his final weigh in, he pulled off his boots and climbed on the scales to reveal his final weight of 12 stones two pounds – a loss of one stone and four pounds.

And this was despite attending 27 official functions between his first weigh-in in October and his final weigh-in today.

A delighted Brigadier Murray said: “I wanted to lose the weight partly for selfish reasons like I’d put on a lot of weight over the last two years because the nature of my job involves attending so many functions, both military and civilian.

“I realised just how much I’d put on when I was due to attend a medal presentation and couldn’t fit comfortably into my service dress uniform and it was a straight choice between buying an expensive new one or losing weight.

“But just two days ago I had to attend an official function, tried on my service uniform and it was a much more comfortable fit – so now I won’t have to buy a new one.

“Also, I saw a good opportunity to raise money for charities including the Army Benevolent Fund, The Soldiers Sailors and Airmen’s Association and Macmillan Nurses.

“I thought what better way to make it really difficult for myself than to have the public humiliation of standing on the scales in front of 100 colleagues and pledging to lose the weight.”

Brigadier Murray’s two-month fitness regime included daily early morning runs along the River Severn in Shrewsbury, cutting back on alcohol, staying away from the biscuit tin, and sticking to a healthy eating plan.

His determination to shed the excess weight has set a shining example to the regular and reserve troops he has operational and administrative command of across the region.

“I have always believed that people who are physically fit tend to be able to cope better with all the kinds of things that as a member of the British Army can be thrown at you, such as extreme conditions of heat and stress, he added.

The coffee morning, held between 10am and 11am, included the official weigh-in of Brigadier Murray, a charity auction, a raffle and festive carols from the Prince of Wales Division (Clive) Band.