Stockport County Football Club will be supporting the UK’s leading Armed Forces charity throughout the whole of the new season.
The logo of the Royal British Legion will be proudly displayed on the back of their alternate away shirt during the new campaign, with a poppy on the sleeve.
The club will make a contribution to the charity at the end of the season based on sales of the replica shirt.
Read moreFUNDING FROM the Royal British Legion will help leading veterans support service Change Step provide vital help for ex-forces personnel in crisis.
A grant of £90,626 from the Legion’s External Grants programme will allow Change Step to provide dedicated crisis management mentors working across Wales.
The news comes as existing Change Step mentors release a heartfelt and powerful film to promote their work with former members of the Armed Forces.
Read moreBlind Veterans UK has announced that its gold medal winning garden, which featured at the prestigious RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show throughout last week, has begun its relocation to the charity’s training and rehabilitation centre in Brighton.
The garden, which also won the Best Construction Award at the Hampton Court show, has started its move towards the centre in Ovingdean where it will be enjoyed by blind veterans for years to come.
The ‘It’s all about community garden’ was designed by celebrated designers Andrew Fisher Tomlin & Dan Bowyer and was one of the largest and best received show gardens at Hampton Court this year.
Read moreParliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP, met OA staff and volunteers, while visiting several military charities in London on Thursday 6th July.
The Minister, who is responsible for Defence People and Veterans, spoke to Lee Holloway, OA Chief Executive Officer, and Nigel Hare, OA Head of Benevolence, about how we support transitioning and former officers, as well as their dependants. The Minister has a personal interest in the OA, having served as a Captain in the Royal Green Jackets.
Read moreThe Officers’ Association is developing a new training programme, in conjunction with Business in the Community (BITC), which aims to support businesses to develop sustainable military employment programmes.
The structured training will help employers to understand the benefits of hiring ex-military personnel. According to research by Deloitte, the OA and FIMT, 72% of organisations with active ex-military recruitment programmes recommend employing veterans; 53% of organisations that employ veterans find they are promoted more quickly than other colleagues and 79% find they take less sick leave.
Read moreKate Tripp is running for the OA in the OA Inter-Services Triathlon at the end of July. We interviewed her to find out more.
This year the triathlon is organised by the RAF Triathlon Association and sponsored by the OA. The Army, Navy and RAF will compete at the annual event, in individual and team categories, including Male, Female and Veteran. In addition to the Armed Forces, the emergency services, the OA and guest teams will participate. The OA will have a relay team, with a different person completing each discipline.
Read moreA blind veteran from Wrexham has been formally presented with the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur for his part in the liberation of France.
Eric Andrews, 92, was presented with the prestigious honour in Llandudno, North Wales by French Honorary Consul, Mrs Aude Auclair. The ceremony was arranged and organised by Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for blind and vision-impaired ex-Service men and women, from whom Eric receives support.
Read moreA blind veteran from Hampshire who was invited to compete in the inaugural Holman Prize has emerged victorious as one of the three winners.
Penny Melville-Brown OBE, from Fareham, was selected as one of the 11 finalists from over 200 original entries. Run by the San Francisco Lighthouse organisation, the three winners will be awarded $25,000 to achieve their ambitions. Penny’s goal is to cook across six continents with her online Baking Project, Baking Blind. The two other winners are Ahmet Ustunel and Ojok Simon from the United States and Uganda respectively. Ustunel is planning on completing a solo kayak from Europe to Asia, while Simon is aiming to build a blind-led social enterprise for beekeepers.
Read moreCombat Stress has developed a pilot intervention programme to support partners of veterans diagnosed with PTSD, after research revealed the burden of caring for a veteran can put them at risk of developing a mental health condition themselves.
In the first study of its kind, Combat Stress, the UK’s leading mental health charity for veterans, surveyed the mental health needs of 100 female partners of former servicemen diagnosed with PTSD. Of the women surveyed, 45% had alcohol problems, 38% had depression, 37% had anxiety and 17% showed symptoms of PTSD.
Read moreThe CEO of F4H and The Brathay Trust’s Senior Learning and Development Consultant had the honour of being invited to RAF Halton to witness the latest recruit Graduation Parade. It was a moving and humbling experience, bringing back memories from May 1983 for this particular individual! It was a privilege to share the obvious pride and joy being shown by so many Mums, Dads, friends and families as their sons and daughters began their careers in the RAF. Many thanks to Station Commander RAF Halton for his hospitality.
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