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 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 moreSeven members of the UK team for the Invictus Games 2017 in Toronto headed to the Land Rover Experience Centre at Eastnor Castle, joined by Land Rover ambassadors Zara Tindall and Lewis Moody, to hone their skills on the legendary off-road tracks.
The Invictus Games is an international adaptive sporting event for wounded injured and sick servicemen and women, which was first held in London in 2014. This year’s Games kick off in Toronto on 23 September, with the Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge marking the first opportunity for all 17 competing nations to win a medal.
Read moreHelp for Heroes has launched a new Wellbeing focus, to encourage its beneficiaries to improve their overall health and wellbeing this summer.
Over the next three months, the charity will be sharing a whole toolkit on social media and the Help for Heroes website, complete with nutrition tips, advice on how to relax and sleep better, and sharing the health benefits of getting outdoors – as well as a series of yoga videos.
Read morePrince Harry, Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, has this morning unveiled the team of 90 competitors selected to represent the UK at the Invictus Games Toronto 2017.
The 90-strong team of wounded, injured and sick (WIS) serving military personnel and veterans came together for the first time since selection at the Tower of London. Prince Harry met the team ahead of the forthcoming Invictus Games in September, and posed for the first official team photograph.
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