| Help for Heroes | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | H4H |
| Formation | 2007 |
| Type | Charity |
| Purpose/focus | Supporting wounded British Armed Forces servicemen and women |
| Headquarters | Salisbury, Wiltshire |
| Region served | United Kingdom |
| Official languages | English |
| Chief Executive Officer | Bryn Parry (founder) |
| Website | http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ |
Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity launched on 1 October 2007 to help provide better facilities for British servicemen and women wounded since September 11, 2001.[1] It was founded by Bryn Parry OBE and his wife Emma Parry OBE after they visited soldiers at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. The charity was launched after a meeting with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army.[2] H4H has attracted a number of high profile trustees and patrons and has the support of the Army Benevolent Fund and the Ministry of Defence.[3] It has also attracted support from national newspapers in the United Kingdom (UK), such as The Sun[4][5] and The Sunday Times who made it one of the beneficiaries of their Christmas appeal in 2007, raising a total of £674,000 for H4H.[6]
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Help for Heroes was co-founded by Bryn Parry and his wife Emma, and launched on 1 October 2007. He had served with the Royal Green Jackets for ten years before leaving to become a cartoonist. The couple were profoundly moved after a visit to Selly Oak hospital where they met injured servicemen and women and decided they needed to do something to help. Bryn and Emma Parry were both invested with the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for their services to charity on 25 November 2010.[7]
The initial aim of H4H was to raise funds for the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court in Headley, Surrey. The new complex houses a gymnasium and full-sized swimming pool. H4H has provided £8M to build the Rehabilitation Complex which was opened by Prince William on 4 June 2010.[8]
H4H donated £520,000 to the SSAFA Forces Help "Home from Home" appeal to provide a relatives house at Selly Oak Hospital and Headley Court. This means that families can be close to their relatives while they are recovering.[8]
H4H provides funds for the military initiative, 'Battle Back' which provides sporting and adventure training activities for those at Headley Court.[8]
H4H support Troop Aid which provides grab bags for all the wounded. They are made up of essential items to make their stay in hospital more comfortable.[8]
H4H granted £3.5M to Combat Stress, the charity that looks after those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It was Combat Stress' largest ever donation and has been used to pay for much needed expansion and modernisation.[9]
H4H donated £10,000 for the Military Liaison Officer’s (MLO) funds at Selly Oak, that enables the MLOs to take the patients and their relatives out for a meal while they are at Selly Oak and for them to start getting used to being seen in public.[8]
H4H keeps a "running total" on its website which is updated weekly with the total amount raised, which in April 2009 stood at over £19M. In February 2010, H4H had raised £40M. In June 2011, the charity announced that it had raised £100m in under four years.[10]
H4H offers a number of challenges including bike rides in Europe - the Big Battlefield Bike Ride in May 2008 was the inaugural H4H challenge where 300 cyclists biked from the HMS Victory at Portsmouth, across the English Channel to Caen. The group then cycled through Northern France, tracing some of the region's most significant First World War and Second World War battle sites, and returned to London, which raised £1 million. There have been 5 further bike rides and they are considered one of the charity's main challenges. Supporters also take part in a wide variety of other challenges too, such as treks through Nepal and the Sahara Desert, various marathons from London to Barcelona, the chance to climb Kilimanjaro and 2 one day challenges; a New Forest Bike Ride and a 26 mile walk from Avebury to Stonehenge.
On 5 September 2008 H4H held a "Heroes Ball" to raise funds. A charity auction included an RAF donated prize to fly with the Red Arrows, the RAF's Aerobatics Team. The winning bid was £1.5M, which gave the winner, Julie Heselden, the chance for her and eight family members to fly in the display Hawk jets. The RAF said of the bid, "We know it is a special prize -- a once in a lifetime opportunity -- but we are all astounded that someone could be so generous. The RAF is genuinely delighted to have helped in raising such a fantastic amount of money for such a worthwhile charity."[11]
The charity was a joint beneficiary of the "City Salute"[12] held on 8 May 2008 in London, hosted by patron of the charity Jeremy Clarkson and attended by Princes William and Harry who are both members of the armed services.[13]
On 20 September 2008, Twickenham Stadium hosted a challenge rugby union match featuring rugby players from around the world which raised £1.1m and was televised live. The match featured a "Help for Heroes XV" and an "International Select XV". Former England captains, Phil de Glanville and Lawrence Dallaglio acted as team manager and captain respectively for the H4H XV with Welsh rugby players, Ieuan Evans and Scott Gibbs filling the same roles for the International Select XV. The teams, included players from the Guinness Premiership, National Division One, the Magners League, overseas players and players from the Armed Forces.
The Help for Heroes XV won the match 29-10 in front of a crowd of 52,254 which included The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.[14] Performing at the event were the Band of the Royal Hospital School, Blake, Escala and the Royal Marines Commandos abseil team.[15]
A second rugby match, 'The Heroes Rugby Challenge' will be played on December 3, 2011 at Twickenham Stadium.[16] The match will feature Lawrence Dallaglio, Jason Leonard and Ieuan Evans managing the H4H Northern Hemisphere XV against a Southern Hemisphere team, coached by Wayne Smith and Nick Mallett and overseen by Michael Lynagh and Sean Fitzpatrick.[17]
On 12 November 2009, a football match was held at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire, between an England XI team and a Rest of the World XI team, playing for the Heroes Cup. Both teams comprised ex-professional footballers, other sportspersons and celebrities, and footballing members of the Armed Forces. The match was broadcast live on ITV4 and BFBS, and was commentated on by Peter Dury and Joe Royle. The Rest of the World beat England 4-1.
On 15 October 2010, it was revealed that the seventh season X Factor finalists would be recording a version of David Bowie's 1977 song "Heroes". The song was released in aid of H4H, and none of the singers had any legs (because of IEDs etc.).[18] All sixteen finalists of Series 7 performed the song on 20 November 2010's results show.[19] In the first week of its release it went straight to number 1 and sold 313,244 copies, more than the rest of the top ten at the time combined.[20]
British chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling announced he would effectively waive VAT on the single, this will be achieved by donating the value of the VAT that will be paid on the single to the charity. He said "I very much support the Help for Heroes campaign and I support too the efforts being made by the X Factor contestants, and in recognition of that I am proposing effectively to waive VAT on this sale of these singles." and "We will do that by making a donation equivalent to the value of the VAT to the fund." He stated this in response to a question from Karen Buck.[21]
At Easter 2011, the first Convoy for Heroes event took place at Gaydon in Warwickshire, to raise money for Help for Heroes. Organised by Land Rover enthusiasts, Convoy for Heroes took the form of a world-record breaking convoy of 348 Land Rovers, including SAS 'Pink Panther' Land Rovers, and several SAS troops themselves. A second Convoy for Heroes event is scheduled for Easter 2012, this time at the larger Prestwold Hall site in Leicestershire.[22] So far, over £15,500 has been raised by Convoy for Heroes. For 2012 the target is 1,000 Land Rovers and to raise in excess of £50,000.
The trustees are:[23]
The patrons are:[24]
Help for Heroes was awarded the Support to the Armed Forces award during the 2008 Sun Military Awards, "For a civilian, a civil servant, a contractor or just an ordinary member of the public, who has provided invaluable help to the Armed Forces".