Do We Have Too Much Money?

Some people might think that Help for Heroes might have run out of things to spend your money on. It is important to us that our supporters and the other charities (and the Servicemen and women) know what we are spending the money on and what do we want to do next. So here goes.

The Road to Recovery; How We Help Our Heroes.

We see the recovery process as a journey along a road. We want to help where we can with our funds. It starts in the theatre of battle where a young Serviceman or woman (one of ‘our blokes’) is shot, treads on an IED or has some injury from operations or training. There is little we can do in Afghanistan apart from letting the blokes know that we are doing our very best back here to get them everything they need to recover.

At Hospital. (ongoing support)

Once the patient arrives at Selly Oak, he or she will immediately start to get support from H4H. He will receive a Grab Bag from Troop Aid (funded by H4H) full of essentials like washing kit, T-shirts, underwear and other goodies to make his stay more comfortable. Later, when he is ready, he will be able to go out for a pizza or if he needs a CD or something to read, and the funding for that comes from the Patient Welfare fund. His relatives can stay in the SSAFA Norton House and again we are delighted to have been a part funder of that. Read more here...

At Headley Court. (£8m and more ongoing)

Once the patient is ready to begin rehabilitation, he or she moves to Headley Court where they can make use of the wonderful £8m H4H Rehab Complex that includes two state of the art gyms, treatment rooms, a gait annalysis centre and of course, our lovely 25m swimming pool. Those minibus trips to the Leatherhead public pool will be, at last, a thing of the past.

When relatives come to visit, they can stay at the other Norton House at Headley and, as they start to build their confidence, they will join the Battle Back programme to do adaptive adventure training. Other confidence building trips including sailing and other challenges are available, again funded by your H4H money, through BLESMA and The Not Forgotten Association. Read more.

Personnel Recovery Centres. (£20m and more ongoing)

On February 11th 2010, H4H was able to announce, along with the Chief of the General Staff, and the Director General of the Royal British Legion (TRBL), its support for the Army Recovery Capability (ARC). H4H has raised £20m, which will be used to provide four Personnel Recovery Centres (PRCs) at Edinburgh, Colchester, Catterick and Tidworth.  The Army’s Personnel Recovery Branch will man them and TRBL has committed £20m to cover the operating costs for the first ten years. Read More.

The Quick Reaction Fund (QRF). (£5m and ongoing)

As it will take until 2011 for the PRC buildings to be fully operational and, in order to ensure that our wounded get all the support they need before that, we have come up with the QRF.

Our funds, administered by the Services’ own charities, will ensure that individuals and their relatives can access H4H money to help when needed. For example, if a wounded Serviceman needs his home upgraded to enable him to live there, and there were no other funds available, our QRF would pay for the upgrade. Similarly, if a relative has run into financial difficulty through being beside their loved one’s hospital bed, the QRF can be used to help. Contact the ABF- The Soldier’s Charity, The Royal Marine Trust Fund or the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund for assistance.

The Individual Recovery Programme Fund.  (£11.5m and more ongoing)

The next item on the H4H Wish List is to provide funds to help pay for the Individual Recovery Programmes (IRPs) for those whose injuries mean that they will have to move on into civilian life. We have committed a further £5m each year (£3.75m for the Army) to support the IRPs. Typically, this fund will be used to enhance the resettlement package already available to Servicemen as they leave and to help give them every chance at a successful future. As with the QRF, this will be administered by each of the Services' benevolent funds and will be an integral part of the Services' Individual Recovery Programmes.

Royal Navy and Royal Marine Support  (£17m and more ongoing)

High on the wish list is to raise funds for the enhancement of facilities at HMS Drake. The Royal Marines, part of the Royal Navy of course, have established their own Recovery Company (Hasler Company) for their wounded and have asked us to help them build a centre to include a Rehabilitation Complex and additional accommodation. It is an ambitious project and we need to raise around £17m if we are to give them everything they want; let’s do our best… it’s a state of mind! More to come.

Combat Stress (£3.5m and more ongoing)

We recognize that at some later stage of a Serviceman’s life, he or she may need mental support as well as physical, so we have been keen to support Combat Stress, the Service mental health charity, and are eagerly looking forward to the completion later this year of the £3.5m H4H complex at Leatherhead. Read more.

Support for Other Charities.

In addition to the other charities already mentioned, we are working with St Dunstans, the charity for the blind, to help enhance their facilities in Wales. We are working with Skill Force and with The Prince's Trust to help the wounded to learn new skills and and at the same time inspire other young people. We have various other projects in the pipeline that all help our heroes along the Road to Recovery, and to do this we look to work with the established charities and other experts in their field. See how we spend your money.

What Next? (At least £20m)

We understand that seriously injured Servicemen and women may have to leave the job they love. While we understand that wars have to be fought by those who are fit to do so, we want those who have to leave through their injuries to have the very best chance of success in the future. We think that we can help in this area and are working hard on to deliver the very best. The PRCs and the IRP are parts of this project but we want to take this to the next stage and work with other agencies to help with the transition into civilian life. It is early days and we have a long way to go, but we are working hard behind the scenes and will need a great deal of money to fund this…more to follow!

So, Do We Have Enough Money? Certainly Not!

We help our wounded heroes by building facilities, funding the delivery charities and by funding the individual needs of both the Serviceman and his family. We have a very long list of things we want to do to ensure that the Road to Recovery is as good as we believe it should be and we are doing our best to achieve everything on that list. We just need a lot of help and that is where you come in… so keep fundraising please!