FAQs

Frequently asked questions about Help for Heroes.

At Help for Heroes (H4H), we are proud of the work that your fundraising allows us to do. If you have any questions regarding how we choose to operate, please see below.

How did H4H start?

Help for Heroes (H4H) was founded by Bryn and Emma Parry who were moved to ‘do their bit’ after a visit to Selly Oak Hospital in 2007. The first task, suggested by General Sir Richard Dannatt (then Chief of the General Staff) was to fund a swimming pool at Headley Court (the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre near Epsom in Surrey). Because of legal restrictions it wasn’t possible to channel the money raised through existing Service charities for a capital building project so a new charity had to be established. Help for Heroes was launched on 1 October 2007.

The message: “it’s not about the rights and wrongs of war, we just want to support those who serve our country and are injured in doing so” caught the public‘s imagination and became a focus for a huge ‘demonstration by donation’, as the public showed their support for the Armed Forces. Very quickly it became clear that the scale of the injuries being sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan needed a comprehensive and long term response, and the British public wanted to support us in this effort.
Who does H4H support?

H4H supports veterans and serving personnel who have been wounded or injured, or have become sick, as a result of serving their country. Additionally their families and dependents receive support from the Charity as they care for their loved one, and adapt to the new challenges that they face. Our primary focus is on those affected by recent and current conflicts due to the urgency and extent of their needs. Anyone is welcome to apply for support and will be considered on a case by case basis and referred to our charity partners where appropriate.

H4H is a tri-service military charity, providing support to full time, reservist Servicemen and women and veterans from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
How does H4H spend your money?

H4H is committed to providing immediate, direct support to individuals as well as building long-term support for the future. Money has either been spent or allocated as follows:

£50m on Individual Support: H4H has provided immediate support to 2000 individuals through the Quick Reaction Fund, a £6m pot pf money able to provide swift financial assistance and administered through the Services’ own charities. We are funding the running costs of the H4H Recovery Centres which support hundreds of individuals weekly, and also make grants to other specialist charities to support their vital specialist work e.g. Haig Housing Trust, SkillForce, Horseback UK, Winston’s Wish and Canine Partners.

£75m on capital projects: H4H has committed £60m to develop and equip four Recovery Centres in the UK for serving personnel, veterans and their families. We funded the £8.5m rehabilitation complex at Headley Court and projects for other charities including Combat Stress, Fisher House, Blind Veterans and SSAFA Forces Help Norton Homes.

£65m still needed for long term support: H4H has committed to funding the delivery of services within the Recovery Centres for the next 20 years including mental and physical well-being, adaptive sport facilities, Battle Back programmes, education, training and support services. It is vital we raise these funds to ensure a lifetime of support for those suffering from life-changing injuries and illnesses.

Our shopping list of projects is continually evolving as we learn from the wounded about the support they need in the long-term.

You can find out more about how we spend the money raised here.
What are the Recovery Centres?

The Help for Heroes Recovery Centres are a nationwide support network to offer that next stage of care after clinical treatment e.g. Headley Court. The wounded can use these Centres to continue their recovery, build up their strength and plan for the future while they are serving or as veterans if times are difficult and they need a safe place to come and access a wealth of support.

The Recovery Centres aim to ‘Inspire, Enable, Support’; delivering comprehensive, long-term support for the wounded, injured and sick and where they can access life skills courses, training and education; top class sports activities; welfare support and advice. All this is available in one place and can be accessed whenever they need it, for life.

Our holistic approach is all about ‘mind, body and soul’. The Recovery Centres provide a launch pad to life through education and employment, getting the wounded back to being fit and healthy through sport and activities and ensuring there is someone to turn to in difficult times or whenever encouragement is needed. H4H is taking the lead role in the delivery of the Recovery Centres in Catterick (Phoenix House), Colchester (Chavasse VC) and Tidworth (Tedworth House) and delivery of new facilities to enhance those already in existence in Plymouth, as part of the wider Defence Recovery Capability.

You can find out more here.
What is the Defence Recovery Capability?

The Defence Recovery Capability (DRC) encompasses all the stages of support available to the wounded, injured and sick to either help them to return to duty or move on into civilian life. The DRC is an MOD-led initiative in partnership with H4H and The Royal British Legion alongside other Service charities and agencies.

H4H has committed many £millions to the Defence Recovery Capability and has funded projects at each stage of what we call the Road to Recovery (see below). The contribution from H4H is the largest single contribution in British military history and, as a member of the Defence Recovery Steering Group, we are a champion for the wounded. H4H lobby for and affect change to the way funding and support is delivered. H4H is funding projects at every stage; for example taking a lead role in the delivery of the Recovery Centres, funding Battle Back programmes, the Quick Reaction Fund and Individual Recovery Plan Fund, to ensure that the wounded, injured and sick and their families have access to the support and resources they need, for life.
Does H4H support individuals?

Yes, we do. H4H does not discriminate between those wounded in action or in training, male or female, race or creed, Navy, Army or RAF; it just wants the funds raised to help the men and women of our Armed Forces. Every penny that H4H spends supports the recovery of individuals, from big projects like the rehabilitation centre Headley Court to the smaller provision of 'Air-essentials' bags donated to each wounded individual on the long and uncomfortable flight back from Afghanistan.

Individuals and their families can receive financial aid from H4H to help relieve some of the added stresses resulting from becoming wounded, injured or sick. Improvements to housing, paying for specialist equipment, travel expenses for family members visiting hospital and financial assistance for those forced into giving up work to care for loved ones are just some of the ways in which the Charity can and is helping. H4H does provide funds to individuals but does this through our partners, the Services own charities, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity.

You can read first hand how we have supported individuals here.

If you know someone who needs our support, please click here.
How does H4H deliver individual support?

Individual Recovery Plans (IRPs) - Supporting those whose injuries mean they have to return to civilian life by enhancing the existing resettlement package. IRP examples include funding for someone to undertake vocational training, complete a business start-up course or gain a qualification.

H4H Quick Reaction Fund (QRF) – Provides immediate financial support to Servicemen and women and their families, for urgent cases, within 72 hours of the need being identified. We work with the Services own charities to administer these funds (ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity working with the Royal British Legion and SSAFA Forces Help caseworkers).

You can find out more {here}.
What is Battle Back?

When first faced with the reality of a disability, many individuals experience a loss of confidence, depression, and believe that their active lives have ended. The sudden, traumatic change in physical ability makes them vulnerable to psychological and emotional stress which can alienate them from their friends and family.

Battle Back offers the chance for wounded soldiers to re-build their confidence and develop new active skills which will aid them through the latter stages of rehabilitation. The use of sport or outdoor activities has a proven track record to aid successful physical and psychological rehabilitation, providing the foundation for a positive self-image and outlook on life.

Battle Back uses adventurous training and adaptive sport to help the seriously wounded get back into sport and to help them get ‘the wind in their faces and the sun on their backs’.

H4H is a founder partner of the MOD’s Battle Back programme and has provided £1.5m of funding to date. Since Battle Back started, H4H has supported over 1,500 wounded, injured and sick personnel through activities such as sailing, swimming, cycling or water-skiing, and 80 individuals at an elite level across all summer and winter Paralympics sports.
How is H4H involved in talent identification for elite sport?

For those who are interested in elite sport, H4H works with organisations such as the British Paralympic Association, National Government Bodies and Battle Back, to identify talented athletes at an early stage. The H4H programme reach covers all 20 summer and five winter Paralympic sports through the Recovery Centres and Headley Court. H4H organises and funds overseas sports tours as well as financial support to allow the wounded to try out the host of sports available.

Once someone shows talent for a particular sport, H4H will fund things like specialist equipment (e.g. high performance or sports prosthetics), upgrades to existing equipment and the provision of home training equipment, entry into competitions (e.g. Amputee Games, Sledge Hockey League) to enable someone to progress onto world class performance programmes, links to top coaches as well as specialist sports science and medical support.

The recently launched ‘Frontline to Start Line’ initiative, a partnership between Help for Heroes and the British Paralympic Association, will fast-track wounded, injured and sick Service personnel, both serving and veterans, towards representing their country in Paralympic sport and encourage greater participation in the 2014 Winter Games, 2016 Paralympic Games and beyond.

Battle Back Phoenix for wounded, injured and sick veterans is operated and funded by H4H and delivered at the H4H-led Recovery Centres.

You can find out more here.
What is the 'Road to Recovery'?

We see the recovery process as a journey along a long winding road. H4H funds projects at every stage of the Road to Recovery from the point of injury and evacuation, to hospital, through the transition to civilian life and beyond.

This includes 'Air-essentials' bags donated to each wounded individual on the long and uncomfortable flight back from Afghanistan, support for families at our Fisher House 'home away from home' so they can be beside their loved ones bedside, the start of the rehabilitation process at Headley Court with the state-of-the-art facilities in the H4H Rehabilitation Complex and Battle Back programmes; the move onto the recovery phase with all the courses and facilities provided at the Recovery Centres, and ensuring that financial help, support and advice is there for the wounded and their loved ones if and when they need it in the future. Support is not limited to battlefield injuries but includes injuries sustained while training or on active service.

Read more about how we help along the Road to Recovery here.
What are the Band of Brothers and Band of Sisters?

The H4H Band of Brothers and Band of Sisters is our way of keeping in touch with the ‘blokes’ and their loved ones and enables them to keep in touch with each other.

The Band of Brothers offers life-long support and opportunities to Servicemen or women who have become wounded, injured or sick during, or as a consequence of their service in current conflicts. We can pass on offers of hospitality, employment and holidays donated by the very supportive public as well as signpost our members to civilian and military support and welfare organisations when needed.

The Band of Sisters is open to loved ones, both male and female, and offers life-long support to those who care for our Servicemen and women who have become wounded, injured or sick during, or as a consequence of, their service in current conflicts. The members can get in touch and meet with other people who understand what it is like for their nearest and dearest to be affected in the line of duty as well as receive offers of hospitality, holidays and days out and find help when needed.

If you know someone who would like to join our Band of Brothers and Band of Sisters, click here.
Is H4H a registered charity?

Yes, H4H is registered in England and Wales as a charity, number 1120920, and as a company limited by guarantee, number 6363256.
What are H4H's charitable objectives?

To assist persons who are currently serving or who have served in the Armed Forces, and their dependants, by advancing any lawful charitable purpose at the discretion of the Trustees and in particular, but not exclusively:

-To promote and protect the health of those that have been wounded or injured whilst serving in the Armed Forces through the provision of facilities, equipment or services for their rehabilitation.

-To make grants to other charities who assist members of the Armed Forces and their dependants.

-To promote and protect the health of those who have been wounded, sick or injured whilst providing services to, or in conjunction with, and in either case under the direction of the commander of the Armed Forces in an area of conflict or war and to provide benefits to the dependants of such persons who are in need.

You can find out more about our Trustees and Patrons here.
H4H sells merchandise. Surely charities are not allowed to carry out trading activities?

Correct, H4H does not carry out any trading activities. We decided to set up Help for Heroes Trading Ltd, a wholly owned trading subsidiary, which sells gift products and licenses the use of our logo to raise funds. The profits from H4H Trading go to cover our operating costs with any surplus gifted to the Charity as a donation. This means that when someone gives us a donation as much as possible goes to the cause, not to costs, and that has to be good.
How financially efficient is H4H?

We are based on a business park in Downton, south of Salisbury in Wiltshire to ensure our costs are kept to a minimum. Our other office is the Tin Hut, in Tidworth, which costs us £1 a year and is where the volunteers help answer the phones, reply to emails, top and tail thank you letters and give visitors a friendly welcome.

We are also very fortunate to have many thousands of volunteers, without whom we could not do our job. They work incredibly hard out in the counties – often holding down a day job too. They are simply invaluable.

All the profits from H4H Trading Ltd and BMyHero Ltd (trading as Bmycharity) go towards the operating costs of the Charity, which means that as much of your hard earned donations as possible goes to the cause, not towards salaries. At 30th September 2012 (the end of our last financial year) we were running at 98% efficiency – this means that 98 pence of every pound donated goes towards grants.

We believe that makes us the most efficient Service charity and we are doing the best we can to improve on that.

We are entirely transparent about all our financials and welcome all our supporters to view our Annual Reports. These are also available on the Charity Commission's website.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call on 01725 514 276, email us on info@helpforheroes.org.uk or drop in and visit us at: Help for Heroes, Unit 6 Tidworth SP9 9AF
Why does H4H say it’s about 'the blokes'? Don’t you help the women of our Forces as well?

The phrase comes from a speech made by Bryn Parry on 30 September 2007 at the launch of H4H.

The full quote is: “It's about the 'blokes', the men and women of the Armed Forces” and was inspired by Bryn and Emma's first visit to Selly Oak Hospital and referred the individuals they met during that visit, all of whom happened to be men but could just as easily have included women.

When H4H uses the term 'blokes', it is intended to encompass both the men and women of our Armed Forces. H4H uses the phrase 'it's all about the blokes' to describe all Service personnel, male and female, which is why 'the blokes' is always in inverted commas and is normally followed with the qualifying line 'men and women of our Armed Forces'.

The slogan 'It’s about the blokes' is not in any way meant to cause offence to or leave out the many wonderful, brave women serving in the Forces. H4H, of course, helps any women in the Forces that are sick, wounded or injured in the line of duty.
Why does H4H call Servicemen and women 'heroes'?

H4H considers that anyone who volunteers to join the Armed Forces, knowing that one day they may have to risk all, is a hero. It’s that simple.
Is the publicity surrounding H4H taking away from the established Service charities?

H4H works closely with other Service charities to ensure that money goes to the right places and that there is no duplication of effort. H4H is a member of COBSEO, which ensures that we are part of the powerful voice that lobbies on behalf of all Services charities.

The publicity generated by H4H has meant that all Service charities have benefited considerably from the focus on this generation’s wounded and all report their income has increased as a result. In addition, H4H supports many Service charities with funding and grant giving and collaborates in joint fundraising partnerships. You can read about our financial support of other Service charities here.

Since H4H started, other Service charities have seen their income increase by more than 25%. (For example, ABF The Soldiers Charity has seen an increase of 58% and Support our Soldiers an increase of 87%). Media interest in H4H has attracted attention to the important role that Servicemen and women play.
Does H4H criticise the government?

No, H4H is non-critical. If people fundraise for a local hospital’s CAT scanner or Air Ambulance then they do it because they want to help enhance facilities. It is not an implicit criticism of the NHS; it is a welcome additional facility. It is the same when H4H supports the MOD.

We work closely with Government and the MOD but we are fiercely independent and we are determined that they must pay for the necessities, such as superb prosthetics, for life. H4H was instrumental in the creation of the Murrison Report, which reviewed prosthetic care for both serving and veteran members of the Armed Forces. Thanks to this report, the prosthetic provision by the NHS and MOD is now world-class. We do reserve the right to pay for prosthetics if there is a need that is not being met by the government, but this is rare.
Is H4H politically motivated?

No, H4H is strictly non-political. We accept that wars happen under any government and seek to support those people wounded in war, not to comment on the reasons behind such conflicts. Wars are brutal and Servicemen and women are injured almost daily - we can’t prevent this, but together, we can help those who are wounded in the service of our country to recover, and that is our focus; it’s as simple as that.

H4H has no affiliation with any political party and does not endorse the use of its name, brand or images for the promotion of any political viewpoint. The money raised by H4H’s supporters is used to support wounded service personnel regardless of gender, colour or creed and the Charity strongly opposes any individual or political party who would want otherwise, as well as those who seek to use the Charity’s name for their own political gain.
Why does H4H have to do this? Is it not the government's responsibility?

The MOD provides our Servicemen and women with the necessary support but frankly, there is never enough money to do everything we would like. We want to help so, if we are prepared to run races, climb mountains, swim, cycle, bake cakes and do all the other crazy things we do in support of ‘the blokes’ to provide additional support, then the Armed Forces are happy to accept our contribution.

We want to help and our help is welcomed but it is the extras we provide; we are not letting the Government off the hook or doing their job for them.
Can I leave money to H4H in my will?

Yes, an increasing number of people are setting up legacies.

Every legacy left to H4H will make a vital difference to current and future generations of wounded Servicemen and women.

Many of those injured in the line of duty are young adults who have their whole lives ahead of them.

Remembering H4H in your Will means that we can confidently plan and fund further initiatives to guarantee that our wounded heroes will be looked after for the rest of their lives.

You can find out more here or give our helpful team a call on 01725 514117
Can my company support H4H?

Absolutely! Getting your company involved in fundraising is a brilliant way to motivate your workforce as staff members across all levels can work towards a common positive goal.

We have a very successful Charity of the Year (COTY) programme in place with dedicated Account Managers in Team H4H as well as the Give As You Earn scheme.

You can find out more here or contact our friendly Corporate Team on 01725 514 118.
How do I raise money for H4H?

There are so many ways you can raise money to support our wounded, just look at our Fundraising pages and see what you fancy doing!

We welcome every fundraiser, big and small, and each and every donation is valued in the same way! It all makes up the wonderful support we are able to pass on to our heroes. As long as its legal, safe and honest, then register it with our friendly team and have some fun 'doing your bit'. Whatever activity you are planning, our team can offer you ideas, advice and information to guide you through your fundraising experience with H4H.

Alternatively just hit that donations button and give us as much as you can!

Read about how your fundraising can make a difference here.

Please accept our apologies if we have not been able to answer your question. If you would like to speak to us, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 01725 513212. We would love to hear from you and are always happy to answer any questions you have.

Wounded soldiers, Steve Palmer, Luke Sinnott and Craig Wood on a Weymouth para-sailing day

How your money helps

Race Across America participant Ssgt Steve Arnold

how we can help you

Heroes Stories

Help for Heroes is a Company limited by Guarantee...
Registered in England and Wales under number: 6363256 Registered Charity number: 1120920
Registered Office: Unit 14 Parkers Close, Downton Business Centre, Downton, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 3RB