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