If you have recently found you have been given a place in next years marathon – CONGRATLUATIONS!
Help for Heroes are putting together a H4H team to raise money for our wounded heroes and would love you to be a part of our team. Please do contact Katie@helpforheroes.org.uk and we will be in touch!
Let’s try and raise £500,000 by putting ourselves through this amazing challenge and do something magical for our Heroes. Many thanks and look forward to hearing from you, Mark
Join the Help for Heroes LM Team 2009
I am delighted to be able to announce that we have raised over £12 million in 12 months, that is £1 million a month or, as Mark the Insomniac worked out, .39p a second!
This time one year ago, we had formed a charity in under two weeks, blagged offices, recruited volunteer staff, been given furniture, computers and telephones and were ready to go. We didn’t know what to expect; there was no masterplan apart from a determination to help the wounded and a passion to do so to the best of our ability. We knew that thousands of people felt the same as us; that ‘something’ had to be done. Well, we, you, all of us, did that ‘something’ and the results speak for themselves.
Help for Heroes has been very simple. We have told people of our desire to help the wounded and then asked those who wish to join us to get out there and do their bit... and thousands have. We have had the big events, the London Marathon, the 52,000 rugby supporters who filled Twickenham, the 300 cyclists who raised £1.3 million on a bike ride, the £1.5 million donated in return for nine passenger seats on the Red Arrows and we have had the smaller events; equally important to us. There have been cake sales, car washes, sponsored shaves, runs, walks, balls, clay shoots and thousands of other inspired fund raising events limited only by the law and the imagination. Thank you everyone who has done something, great or small for Help for Heroes, you are really marvellous and a part of this wonderful wave of support.
We have been able to allocate the funds received so, of the £12 million we know that will come in, we have already allocated nearly £10 million to support the wounded and you will be able to read more about that on the main website. Soon, the wounded will have their own pool and gym complex, will go on adaptive adventure training trips as part of their rehabilitation, get job opportunities and gain assistance with the stress caused by combat. As money comes in, we will take advice from the Services and other charities, the people who know, and we will get it out to where it is most needed; you can be sure of that.
Raising a great deal of money is only part of the story of Help for Heroes as we know that we have played our part in raising the awareness and support for the Armed Forces. Our leading sporting heroes have professed to being humbled by the true heroes, the extraordinary... No, the ordinary... blokes, they have met. This respect has spread and our Servicemen and women tell us that the way they are seen by the public is changing for the better. This quote is from a Serviceman in Afghanistan..
‘To me the most incredible success that H4H, and other military focused charities, has been to make our service a part of every day life in the minds of the general public and by doing so, creating an atmosphere of unstinting support (numerous parcels for my boys in Afghanistan from complete strangers being a physical demonstration of this support) for the young soldiers I had the privilege to command no matter what ones political views of the operations in which we fight.
This, in my mind, makes a real difference to the morale of the troops and makes the soldier that much more comfortable to do the job that he does; thank you.’
Running at this pace has its challenges and the success of the appeal has depended on the extraordinary dedication of everyone who has been involved in Help for Heroes, the staff, volunteers, supporters and the thousands of fund-raisers... so thank you and keep going.
Finally, none of this would have happened without the inspiration of ‘the blokes’ themselves. If we ever feel a little weary, we only need to visit the staff and patients at Selly Oak and Headley Court to get a dose of their courage, humility and humour to spur us on. To hear one of the wounded refer to himself as being ‘blessed as he has only lost a leg’ is to understand what this is all about; the blokes. They are the reason, they are the inspiration and frankly, it is an honour for us to do a little to help them; I know you all feel the same.
With thanks for everything you have done and will continue to do,
Bryn, Emma and all the H4H team
"What is H4H all about? It’s about the blokes, our men and women. It’s about Derri, a rugby player who has lost both his legs, it about Carl whose jaw is wired up so he has been drinking through a straw. It’s about Richard who was handed a mobile phone as he lay on the stretcher so he could say goodbye to his wife. It is about Ben, its about Steven and Andy and Mark, its about them all. They are just blokes but they are our blokes; they are our heroes. We want to help our heroes."
The charity Help for Heroes was launched in October 2007 in response to the desire of ordinary people to do something practical to help our wounded servicemen and women. As individuals we are powerless to prevent war and we feel helpless that we are unable to stop our men and women from being killed and wounded. By joining together as Help for Heroes, we are doing something practical to help; we are doing our bit.
Help for Heroes is very simple; we are strictly non political, we recognize that wars happen under any government, and we are non critical, preferring to get on with the job rather than talking about rights and wrongs.
Our first task, given to us by General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Head of the Army, was to raise £6 million to help provide a swimming pool and gym complex at the tri service rehabilitation centre at Headley Court. With the support of Royalty, The Armed Forces, Celebrities, the Press and thousands of ordinary, decent people, we achieved that target in our first eight months.
Our first task may be complete, but our job is not and, while our young men and women continue to be wounded, we intend to be there to help. We are pushing on with even more determination, buoyed by the extraordinary support of the public in our first few months, to ensure that the wounded get the best help, support and futures that they deserve.
Our Servicemen and women give more, risk more and sacrifice more, so we believe that they should be given more; we believe they deserve the very best. They say they are not Heroes, that they are just blokes doing their job; we say that anyone who volunteers to join the Armed Forces and serve in time of war is a hero and we want to help our heroes.
Help for Heroes needs to raise a great deal of money and as that money comes in, we will spend it, on improving facilities like the pool complex or the relative’s house at Selly Oak and by giving grants to the right organisations to ensure that our wounded get the very best.
This is needed, it is urgent and it is making a very real difference to our Armed Forces. Thank you for your support; we need your help and we need it now.
