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, on live 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 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, 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 Sept 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 |
The Heroes Concert is fast approaching and we've had some more fantastic acts joining the current line up including Enrique Iglesias, Katherine Jenkins with Spellbound, comedians Rhod Gilbert and Peter Kay and, if that wasn't enough, Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow have revealed that the concert will be the first time they appear on stage together in 15 years! With such a huge variety of singers and comedians, there really is something for everyone so be sure not to miss it and get your ticket now! We can't wait to see you there! 
200 cyclists, including a group of wounded from both the UK & US, will head to Belgium on Monday 13th to begin their week long bike ride, following the route of Operation Market Garden. They will arrive at Arnhem on 18th September. Along the way, the group will learn about the Allied liberation of Antwerp and the attempt to break through German lines to seize several bridges, as well as laying wreaths in remembrance at some of the war cemeteries. This is the fourth H4H bike ride in just under 3 years and so far they have raised nearly £3 million to help our wounded heroes. 
