News

Dunkirk Veteran breaks 77-Year silience

The World Premiere of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk in Leicester Square tomorrow night (13 July), will be attended by George Wagner alongside HRH Prince Henry of Wales and two Veterans of Kosovo and Afghanistan.

George Wagner, of Lichfield, escaped the beaches of Dunkirk in a rowing boat aged 19. While he helped fellow soldiers to reach rescue boats by building piers out of trucks with his regiment the Royal Engineers, many of the ‘blokes’ in his unit didn’t make it home. He says it was ‘pot luck’ that he managed to escape relentless attacks from the air and the ground with little or no shelter on an open beach.

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Stockport County will carry the Poppy in 2017/18

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.

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British Legion funding to support Change Step mentors helping veterans in crisis

FUNDING 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.

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Blind Veterans UK’s gold medal winning ‘It’s all about community garden’ begins its move to Brighton

Blind 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.

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OA to develop new training programme with BITC to help employers become military friendly

The 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.

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Blind veteran from Wrexham receives prestigious medal for helping liberate France from the Nazis

A 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.

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Blind veteran from Hampshire wins prestigious Holman Prize

A 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.

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New studies reveal risk of considerable mental health impact on partners of veterans with PTSD

Combat 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.

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Visit to RAF Halton: Future for Heroes (F4H) / The Brathay Trust – Recruit Graduation Parade

The 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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84 year-old blind veteran attends horse riding week with national charity

An 84 year-old blind veteran from East Sussex has taken part in a horse riding week organised by Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-Service men and women.

Keith Mann, originally from Kent, attended the course school in Wrexham, near the charity’s training and rehabilitation centre in Llandudno, North Wales. He received a Rosette for having attended twice.

He says: “It was actually my second time doing it, my first experience being in early 2016. If anything, this time was better as I was challenged to do a bit more. I was able to try riding different types of horses, different breeds.

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Afghanistan support

In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here