Since 2010, Help for Heroes has committed £1,032,846 to enable wounded, injured and sick tri-Service personnel and Veterans to participate in fully funded and bespoke secondments with The Prince’s Trust Team programme.
For veteran Tracy, whose life changed completely when she had a heart attack and stroke at just 35 years old, it enabled her to find renewed purpose.
Read moreA former Royal Marine battling Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is about to embark on the third stage of his record attempt to cross the world’s five largest islands completely unsupported thanks to Help for Heroes funding.
Louis Nethercott, 28, of Wiltshire, will today begin his trek across Madagascar, travelling east to west following the historical lighthouses scattered across the coastline. He will be relying solely on human power to do so. He is being supported in his world record attempt by military charity, Help for Heroes, who have grant funded £10,000 for the expedition, the likes of which has never been attempted before.
Read moreTo celebrate its tenth birthday this month, Help for Heroes has launched ‘The Force for Good’ campaign, recognising the potential in the wounded, injured and sick veterans they support.
Help for Heroes aims to help increasing numbers of veterans find their purpose once again, after it was revealed that in 2016/17, on average seven members of the Armed Forces were medically discharged each day – more than 200 per month. New data obtained by Freedom of Information Act request shows the annual figure for the number of men and women medically discharged from the British Armed Forces increased by 99% between 2010/11 and 2016/17.
The UK Invictus Games Team, selected and trained by Help for Heroes, enjoyed huge success in Toronto with more than 170 personal bests achieved and 87 medals won.
Registration for the Invictus Games 2018 Down Under in Sydney is now open.
Read moreThe team will join 16 other nations at the international event for wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans.
A 90-strong team of wounded, injured and sick (WIS) military personnel have departed from London Heathrow for Toronto, Canada to represent the UK in the third Invictus Games.
The eight-day sporting event will see 550 individuals from 17 nations compete across 12 sports including athletics, wheelchair basketball, swimming and a new sport for 2017, golf. The event will begin with an opening ceremony on 23 September at the Air Canada Centre, featuring Canadian singers Sarah McLachlan and Alessia Cara, and will finish with a closing ceremony on 30 September with performances from Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams.
Read moreA blind veteran from Conwy has completed a three day Iceland trek with Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for blind and vision-impaired ex-Service men and women and The Not Forgotten Association.
Amazingly, Steve Thomas, 45 and from Llanrwst, was entered into the challenge, which was arranged by The Not Forgotten Association, unknowingly. Steve explains “The Rehabilitation and Training Manager from the charity’s Llandudno centre put my name in the hat without me even knowing!
“Out of the blue, he told me that I’d been picked as one of the lucky few. I thought, ‘right then, time to get training!’”
Read moreA survey from Help for Heroes* has revealed that many ex-servicemen and women in the UK have issues sleeping, with over 2 in 5 (41%) stating that they sleep badly on an average night (compared to 27% of the general public, according to a study from the Sleep Council**). Indeed, a quarter of veterans get less than five hours’ sleep on an average night – much less than the widely recommended eight hours.
The results also show that in particular those aged between 25 and 54 struggle to regularly get a good night’s sleep (58%), and that female veterans suffer most, with almost 4 in 5 (70%) of those surveyed saying that they feel they don’t get enough sleep.
Read moreThe Invictus Games 2017 in Toronto, an international sporting competition for wounded, injured and sick veterans and service personnel is fast approaching. The UK Delegation is being delivered by a partnership between help for Heroes (wo are training, selecting and developing the team), The Royal British Legion (who are responsible for Friends and Family) and the Ministry of Defence.
Read moreIn July 2017, Help for Heroes awarded 95 individual grants to wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans. In terms of life to date, 10,820 grants have been awarded totalling nearly £13million. Additionally, more than £37 million in total has been awarded to other charities and organisations to ensure wounded, injured and sick get the support they need.
Read moreThe Not Forgotten Association conducted a battlefield tour of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, over the centenary commemorations. We were privileged to be invited to the Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery commemorative service on Monday 31st July and led the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony on Tuesday 1st August.
The tour was most generously funded by Help for Heroes and our group included a WWII veteran, serving personnel and representatives of most campaigns in between. We were delighted to welcome members of Blesma and veterans from the WRAC, the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, SAS, the Scottish Regiments and others.
Read more
Afghanistan support
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here
