Regards

Tony

  

Katherine My Rose of Cymru

Dear H4H Supporter,

With Spring finally here and an election on the way, one might think that not much else is happening. The media is full of these stories and with the poppy harvest starting it seems to be pretty quiet in Afghanistan; for the moment.

It’s not that quiet at H4H, great things are happening as you gear up for a summer of fundraising to help our wounded men and women. The London Marathon had over 600 H4H runners raising hundreds of thousands of pounds, there were St George’s Day rugby matches and dinners and over 500 events were registered with our team in just one week. Our 300 Big Battlefield Bike Riders who will cycle 350 miles across France are gearing up for their challenge and starting to pack in some extra training hours; it’s all go at H4H. Your fundraising efforts are extraordinary and it will not be long before we pass £50m raised since we began in our Tin Hut on 1st October 2007.

To raise such huge sums is quite literally a phenomenon; a wonderful demonstration by donation that we care about our wounded and want to help. Despite all the other distractions, our H4H supporters are just getting on with the job and I am overwhelmed at how big this has become; thank you for doing this.

However, the key to H4H must not be how much we have raised but how many we have helped. That is our motivation and why we continue to cycle, race, run, climb, bake and all the other mad things we do; we simply want to help our blokes. All your efforts would be pointless if the money raised sat around gathering dust; you want it spent.

The Headley Court Rehabilitation Complex is complete, the pool is full of water and the complex will be fully operational by the 1st May. The complex at Combat Stress is well under way and parts of it are already functioning. Our Recovery Centre in Edinburgh, partnered by the Army and Erskine, is working and providing Individual Recovery Plans to help accelerate the recovery of those there. Tangible evidence that the money you have raised is helping already.

We are working closely with the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the Army on the Personnel Recovery Centres and plans are advanced to build the centres at Colchester, Catterick, Tidworth and now Plymouth. We have seen the sites, poured over the plans and are working hard on helping to deliver the centres, to the Services’ requirements, as quickly as possible.

It takes time to build major facilities like the centres and many individuals need help now, so that is where our £5m Quick Reaction Fund (QRF) comes in. Working with the ABF- The Soldier’s Charity and the other Service equivalents, we have created a fund that can help individuals. We provide the money, they help us to deliver it, working with the welfare teams, SSAFA-Forces Help, the Regimental Associations and other agencies to ensure that whoever needs funds to enhance their recovery, gets it and gets it quickly. The fund is set up to minimise administration and maximise support, to deliver support swiftly and to date, cheques have been written and despatched within hours.

Our QRF fund is there for urgent needs for both the wounded and those relatives and loved ones who are affected by their son or daughter’s injuries. The fund has already helped a Service widow get a house to live with her children and the team at ABF-The Soldier’s Charity are working to help in many other individual cases.

Further to agreeing to fund the Recovery Centres, we have also pledged to help fund those who are in the Recovery Capability by paying for courses or activities to help with the recovery process. As an example, a young wounded Serviceman has been able to use our funding to qualify as a locksmith and others are being assisted to move on to future careers. Our funding has supported Battle Back to get the blokes back into Adventure Training and sports, Skill Force to learn new work skills and now we are working with The Princes Trust to learn how to motivate disadvantaged children.

We see the process as being a Road to Recovery, stretching from the moment of traumatic impact, through the support we can offer through SSAFA, Troop Aid, the Patient’s Welfare Fund at Selly Oak to the superb new facilities at Headley Court and onto the Recovery Centres and the new Individual Recovery Plans. At any stage along the Road, individuals (and their families) can get help from the QRF. In the long term we are working with Combat Stress to help with the mental injuries that tend to show later in life and we are looking at how we can provide further support along the road with the other superb service charities.

So, we are busy here at H4H! We are doing our best to get the money you raise to the people who need and deserve it. We do that by funding both facilities and organisations that can support our wounded. Our funds work across the Services so Sailors, Marines, Soldiers or Airmen all benefit equally. Our funds work across borders so we are funding the Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Fijian, West Indian, Londoner, Brummie, Scouser, city boy, country girl and all the others equally. It does not matter to us where they are from, what capbadge they wear or whether they were blown up, shot or injured in training; as long as they have been injured in the service of our country, we want to help.

We are doing our best to help and you are doing your best to raise the money to allow us to do so. With the income from The H4H Trading Company, we are very efficient, probably uniquely in the charity world and all of our costs are covered. Take comfort from that, when you are sweating up that mountain or running that race, everything you raise goes to the blokes, none of it goes to pay for our costs, we look after that.

Further, we now own Bmycharity, the commission free on line donations service, so that if you raise £10, it all comes straight to the cause not to administration costs. You will have heard of other on line donations services and they make their living from the commission they charge; we don’t. So, if you want to ensure that all you raise goes to the charity, ‘Be a Hero; Go for Zero’ use Bmycharity and please spread the word.

So, we are using your money to fund facilities and to support individuals along the Road to Recovery. We do that with maximum speed, minimum fuss and very cost effectively. We are not political and have no bias or prejudice. Our support extends to all who serve and have been hurt or have fallen ill since 9/11 and their families.

The support for H4H has spread out across the country. Each event not only raises money, it is a pebble dropped into your pool of supporters with the ripples spreading out. People who sponsor or support your event tell their friends and they in turn are motivated to do their bit to help. The more events we have, the more people hear and join in, and the more we can spend on helping our blokes, our young men and women, along the Road to Recovery.

It’s really very simple, we want to help, we want to do that efficiently and to make a real difference to the lives of some very important people. We are doing that and we need to continue to do so. Keep going please, keep running, jumping, swimming, baking, brewing, climbing, cycling, keep volunteering, spreading the H4H word and most importantly, keep helping ‘our blokes’; they deserve it.

Thank you.

Bryn Parry

In this issue:

New Challenges London Marathon 2010 Wasps vs Bath Rugby Bmycharity Events County Coordinator's Message Giftaid Vauxhall

Dear H4H Supporter,

On 4th June, a glorious sunny day, His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales was present at the official opening of the new H4H Rehabilitation Complex at Headley Court. Prince William spoke movingly, as a serving RAF pilot, former soldier and fundraiser as well as a royal prince, about those wounded in the service of our country and expressed his gratitude to all those ordinary people who have contributed to the £8m state of the art facility. This is his speech:

The complex is superb, truly state of the art, and everyone who walked around it said that it really has the ‘wow factor’ that will ensure the patients can see how much they are appreciated by the British public. You, the supporters and fundraisers of H4H, have made it possible; it is wonderful, well done.

The opening of the H4H Rehabilitation Complex is a fantastic achievement but it is but the first step on the first rung of a very long ladder, which we need to climb to give our wounded Heroes the very best support for life. We are working on plans to provide more through life support to include both physical and mental support for the injured and their families. It will cost a great deal and will take all our efforts but it, like Headley Court, will be worth it when we see our blokes getting the very best support our money can buy.

I am sometimes asked what people can do, they say that they can’t give or do much. I say that every single act or event, every cheque, big or small, is making a huge difference. When you add all the little acts of support together they make a very big difference; they create places like our new H4H Rehab Complex.

I first heard this story at a wonderful service for H4H at Wells Cathedral. I think it sums up what we are doing at H4H; hundreds of thousands of individuals, all joining together in a common cause and making a difference. That’s it!

“While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it back into the ocean. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.

The old man smiled, and said, "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, "But young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

Keep going, spread the word, do your bit and together, make a difference!

Thank you,

Onwards and ever upwards!

Bryn

In this issue:

Headley Court Big Battlefield Bike Ride Terry Venables' World Cup Charity Single Phones for Heroes Message from a County Co-ordinator Events and Fundraisers B&Q Flower Power British Military Fitness

Dear H4H Supporter,

I have just heard that the Big Battlefield Bike Ride 2010 has raised over £1m, or £1,019,004.04, to be more precise. That is about £3000 for each mile we rode across Northern France and the money is still coming in. That is wonderful and I’d like to thank all those who took part, as well as all those who have made it such a success; thank you.

The Bike Ride was just one of hundreds of events that are taking part each week as people across our country do their bit to help our boys and girls. Each event creates a splash, involves those who are participating but also ripples out through all those who support the event, touching the lives of millions. You may think your event is small, but when you add up all the small events, you have a national movement. In May, H4H was mentioned in the press or media 2,265 times, by far the most mentioned charity. That is extraordinary and just shows how many people are involved.

Why are we getting this coverage and why are so many people supporting H4H? I think it is very simple; people care about our young men and women who are serving and they want to help those who are injured while doing so. There is no underlying criticism or political point to be made, people just want to ensure that our boys and girls get the very best and they are prepared to do their bit to ensure that happens.

The money raised for H4H is ‘new’ money; funds raised by people that would not have been motivated by any other cause, additional funds. H4H is not taking away from the other service charities, it is adding to the net income and in many cases we are directly funding their work.

People just want to help; it is very simple. You decide what you want to do, (keep it legal, safe and decent) register it on our website and then get on and raise money. If you use our Bmycharity.com online donations site, then every penny you raise comes to the cause, not to pay costs. Our administrative costs too are covered by our Trading Company sales. That’s it, simple and very effective; you do something, raise money, send it to us and we will ensure that it is used, every penny of it, to provide direct, practical support to our wounded.

It is humbling to read emails like the one below; the writer has experienced the trauma of having his brother grievously injured but now he wants to do something to help others. He is one of thousands like it, just ordinary, decent people moved to help, thinking about what they can do; really humbling.

"Dear Help for Heroes, firstly I would like to thank you for all the hard work in supporting our troops and their families in these troubling times we live.

I am the elder brother of a soldier who has just returned (severely injured) from serving in Afghanistan, and spent the last two weeks at the Selly Oak hospital (now the magnificent new Queen Elizabeth hospital) in Birmingham.

Me and my family have experienced first hand, like many other families, the sheer horrors of war and what it does. However we have also seen the sheer bravery, dedication, love, devotion and generosity that all the army, troops and medical personnel give on a day to day basis.

It is on this note myself, and many others in my and other families, would like to contribute to raising funds towards your charity…"

There is so much further to go. We need to harness this simple desire to ensure that our wounded boys and girls get the very best support for the rest of their lives. It is our duty to ensure that the funds raised are spent to best effect; this is a once in a generation opportunity to change for the better. We must join together with the Armed Forces, the Government and local Government, the Service Charities and all the ordinary, decent people who care and together, we must make the lives of our blokes better; we owe them that.

Keep going, do your bit!

Onwards and upwards!

Bryn

In this issue:

Bryn and Emma Honoured with OBEs Combat Stress B&Q’s ‘Road to Recovery Garden’ New Forest Bike Ride Message from a County Co-ordinator Events and Fundraisers Vauxhall

Regards

Tony

  

Katherine My Rose of Cymru

Dear H4H Supporter,

I am thrilled to be able to tell you that there is to be a major fundraising concert in support of Help for Heroes, featuring superstar Robbie Williams as the headline act as well as initial confirmed performances from James Blunt, Alexandra Burke, Pixie Lott, Plan B and The Saturdays. The show will be hosted by the best of the UK's comedy talent - John Bishop, Kevin Bridges, Jack Dee, Jason Manford and Michael McIntyre - with a special guest appearance from Bruce Forsyth. The concert will take place at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday 12th September - and we need your support to make it a huge success and raise millions.

The concert is organised by Live Nation, the events specialists who produced the Concert for Diana and the headline sponsorship is being provided by Hesco Bastion who build the barriers that protect the bases for our blokes in Afghanistan; frankly, we could not ask for a better team.

There are only 60,000 tickets available and they go on sale at 9am tomorrow (Wednesday) through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.co.uk, so don't delay - if you snooze, you lose!

The show will star top acts from both the music and comedy worlds, all doing their bit for free to support our boys and girls. The organisers tell me that the response has been fantastic and they are amazed at the number of people who want to join this event; this will be very special.

There will be no free tickets! We want to raise £millions and we can't do that if we give away tickets so please don't ask! We are also asking for sponsors to cover every cost involved in staging the concert. If you can help, or know someone who can, please email our sponsorship team at sponsor@heroesconcert.com, thank you.

We have 300 wounded Servicemen and women and their staff or partners who will be treated as VIPs and their tickets have already been paid for by an anonymous benefactor. Additionally, we are inviting the public to sponsor a member of the Armed Forces when you buy your tickets; the details are on the website at www.heroesconcert.com.

So, this is ‘big' and we need your help to make it fantastic. We need every cost covered and as many members of the Armed Forces treated to a ticket as we can. We need 60,000 people in that stadium showing their appreciation for our boys and girls and we need to raise as much money as we possibly can to help our heroes. Quite a big ask, I know, but that has not stopped you up to now!

Spread the word, dig deep and let's do something special!

Many thanks,

Bryn

About The H4H Team

Every Friday, Amanda, our wonderful Donations Manager, sends an email around the team giving the total income for the week and a running total for the donations received since we launched in October 2007. So each week, we all go home, knackered of course but feeling that we have achieved something good, we can feel that we are doing our bit to help our blokes. However, that doesn't really tell the whole story; it doesn't really describe how absolutely amazing this whole H4H thing is. So, this month I thought I might try to give you some idea of what that weekly total means.

Firstly of course, let's remember that Amanda is married to a soldier in 2 Royal Welsh who is due to go to Afghanistan this Autumn, so she knows many of her husband's Regiment who have been wounded or killed while serving; she knows what it's like. Back in the autumn of 2007 she was one of the ladies from Tidworth who volunteered to work for the new charity Help for Heroes for 'passion not pay'. She came in, just to help out, and, as she was given a pile of envelopes to open, she, with another soldier's wife, Maria, set up the Donations Department, simple as that! Later, she brought along her kid sister, Katie, who now looks after our Challenges like the Big Battlefield Bike Ride and is determined to master her bike (given to her by riders on the last ride) so she can do her bit in June next year.

Sitting opposite her is Kirsty whose husband is on duty in the Lashkah Gar area and round the corner we have Lizzy, whose boyfriend is also serving in Afghanistan, as are several others. We have volunteers who come in to support the main team and they include General's wives, Private soldier's wives, a member of British Airways cabin staff, a Vicar, a Medical Consultant and a retired Major suffering from PTSD who is a real star. We have others whose 'other halves' are serving both in the UK and in Afghanistan as well as over a century of combined service within our own team. We also have lots of Civvies, men and women who have no idea about the difference between a Corporal or a Captain and frankly are not that bothered about rank, but they do care about 'the blokes'.

Then we have our Help for Heroes Trading Company designing, taking orders, storing products, shipping them out, going to shows, sending out the collecting tins, working hard to ensure that as much of our costs are covered as we possibly can - making sure that your donations go to the blokes and not to costs.

We have volunteers out in the counties putting in long selfless hours doing their bit to support the events that our inspired and dedicated fundraisers do to support the wounded. There are hundreds registered every week, some big, some tiny but all contributing and all equally valuable. Each event needs its organisers and then its supporters, all raising awareness and all encouraging others to join this massive effort. Then there are the Services themselves, the very people we are trying to support, all jumping in to help and doing things to raise more money - it's amazing. Then there are the Service charities, some big, some small but all doing their bit and working together to support our boys and girls. Even more amazing are the stories of the blokes themselves, all determined to get back to a good life despite their injuries: humbling and our constant source of inspiration.

That's amazing, all of it, amazing and humbling, but even more so when you realise that since this time last year we have raised £37m which is £10,139 a day, or £422 an hour, or £7 per minute... and that really is amazing, quite amazing. This phenomenon called H4H is truly extraordinary; it's just ordinary decent people doing their bit but, when joined together, this is huge, this is a tidal wave of support sweeping this country and showing that we do care about our blokes and we want to get them the best support and facilities that our money can buy.

Getting the money in is important but getting it out is vital and that is the other part of this story. We are working away, less visibly perhaps, to ensure that every penny we earn is spent in providing facilities like the Rehabilitation Complex at Headley Court and, through the delivery charities, the best individual support to our blokes. Our Grants team is working flat out to ensure our funds are delivering the best effect. Our £5m Quick Reaction Fund (QRF), for example, is providing financial support to individuals and their dependents on a daily basis, so if you hear of someone who is in need (who has been injured in the service of our country since 9/11), let us know and we will help if we can and if we can't... we know someone who can!

So next Friday, when Amanda says it has been another busy week she will be right. It will have been a very busy week for a very big team and you are part of that team: Team H4H. Thank you for what you are doing, it is making a massive difference in so many ways and you should be very proud of being a part of it.

Thank you and keep going!

Onwards and Upwards,

Bryn

In this issue:

H4H Challenges County Co-ordinator's Message Events and Fundraisers

Dear H4H Supporter,

Hang on to your hats, September is going to be a busy month for Help for Heroes. On the 12th Sept, 60,000 supporters will fill Twickenham Stadium and enjoy an extraordinary concert with top pop acts and the very best comedians doing their bit. This is much more than a concert: this is a chance for everyone to demonstrate, live on BBC, our support for our young men and women who serve in our Armed Forces and to raise funds to help if they are injured while doing so.

Please get straight onto Ticketmaster.co.uk to buy your ticket now and do your bit; it will be a great night so don't miss your chance to say "I was there!".

If you can't be at the concert yourself, then why not sponsor a serviceman or woman to a great night out instead? We have hundreds of special tickets available so you can show your support directly; just go to the Heroes Concert website and make someone's day.

On the 13th, 200 cyclists will set off from St Pancras station and travel to Brussels to start the 350 mile Bridge Too Far bike ride to Arnhem. The riders include 15 Wounded Warriors from the USA Armed Forces and 15 of our own Wounded Heroes to form the Band of Brothers team. We fought alongside our allies in 1944 and we are alongside them again now.

The ride will be extraordinary and we will remember those who fought in Operation Market Garden then as well as those who are fighting in Afghanistan today. If you can spare some pennies then please sponsor the ride, we need your help. To make a donation, please visit www.bmycharity.com/V2/bridgetoofar2010.

At the same time as we ride to Arnhem, another team of Heroes will be running across the USA in the epic Gumpathon and we will be linking in to that extraordinary effort as it progresses, so, good luck Gumpathon Guys! Click here to read more about the challenge.

As soon as we are back from Arnhem we prepare to mark our 3rd H4H anniversary and we are doing everything we can to hit £70m by then. £70m in 36 months is absolutely extraordinary but the fact is that every penny of that enormous sum has already been spent or allocated in support of our blokes.

Our appeal to raise funds to build the Personnel Recovery Centres is going brilliantly but we need more. The Royal Navy and Royal Marines want us to support their plans to build a £22m centre at Plymouth and the Army has continued to expand their vision to support their wounded and those plans cost money. We want our blokes to have the very best and quickly, so we have plenty to do!

We are increasingly aware that a wounded serviceman has a wounded family and we have plans to use some of your donations to support the loved ones. We will be launching our latest appeal with more details in October but in the meantime keep going at all the wonderful events you are doing to raise funds: every penny will be used, every penny is needed and every penny will make a real difference... Please don't stop!

It has been another bloody summer in Afghanistan; it may not seem so from the news but we have a great number of our blokes coming home with life changing injuries. One young man told me the other day that he had 'seen too much, seen too many friends injured, seen too many bodies'. He said that while he was on his brief two week R and R leave and then, with a smile, then said 'cheers' and set off back to Brize Norton to complete the last six weeks of his six month war. He is just one of the blokes, there are thousands just like him, rather special blokes that give us the energy to keep doing what we can to help.

On the 12th September, please do your bit to support the Heroes Concert and let's make sure that the blokes hear the songs and jokes but also see the crowds, hear the applause and know it's for them. We are thinking about our blokes, you may be far away but we are doing our bit to support you; keep going and good luck.

Onwards and Upwards!

Bryn

In this issue:

Heroes Concert Bridge Too Far Bike Ride The Gumpathon Events and Challenges Gym for Heroes