A PAIR of young forces sweethearts are hoping for the backing of the borough to help them secure the wedding of their dreams which will enable them to live together with their newborn daughter.

Alice Laurie and Royal Navy recruit Adam Raine, from Pensnett, have made it through to the final ten of Hero’s Wedding - an online competition offering a complete £16,000 wedding package for one lucky military couple – but they now need public votes for a chance of winning.

To win the wedding would be a dream come true for the 20-year-olds after enduring a testing 12 months which has seen Adam away on deployment, Alice undergoing a premature emergency caesarean and the couple having to move out of their rented accommodation.

The couple, who first met in their first year at Pensnett School, got together in 2010 when they both signed up to Dudley College’s Public Service course.

Adam had always wanted to sign up to the Royal Navy, following in the footsteps of his brother and step-brother, while Alice wanted to follow her brother’s path and join the Army.

However Alice fell pregnant and discovered the surprise the day before Adam was set to leave for his first seven-month deployment around the Gulf as part of HMS Daring.

Putting her own military plans on hold, the couple got engaged last Christmas in Portsmouth, where Adam is based and emailed as often as they could during Alice’s pregnancy.

Despite the stress of having to move out of their home when their landlord decided to sell up and in with Adam’s parents, all was going well until she reached 35 weeks, when midwives became concerned her bump was small.

Alice said: “I was told the baby was going to be little, but I had to keep going to and from the hospital for checks.

“They found I had high blood pressure and was starting to show signs of pre-eclampsia, so I was admitted into hospital in July. It was scary being on my own, not knowing what was happening.

Adam was granted compassionate leave, but didn’t make it back in time for the birth of little Amelia Rose, when Alice was rushed into theatre for an emergency c-section – a month earlier than expected.

Adam was allowed nine weeks off, but was soon off again to Gibraltar, leaving Alice and Amelia alone in the Black Country.

The couple are now desperate to tie the knot which will enable them to live together as a family in military accommodation in Portsmouth.

Alice said: “We can’t afford to rent or buy anywhere at the moment and the only way we can live together in forces accommodation is to be married, even though we have a baby together.

“When I saw the competition in August I knew I had to enter and I was really shocked when I found out last week we were finalists.

“Adam didn’t know I had entered, so he was a bit shocked as well when I told him.

“But we really would like to win. We’ve been through such a lot in the last few months, this competition is the only way for us to be together at the moment.”

To vote for Adam and Alice visit heroswedding.co.uk/