GIVE THE GREATEST GIFT THIS CHRISTMAS - SEND A MESSAGE TO A VETERAN
This Christmas, give the gift of hope to veterans experiencing isolation and loneliness.
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SUPPORT OUR HEROES AND WIN BIG, WITH OUR NEW HEROES LOTTERY!
Welcome to our new Heroes' lottery!
Playing our weekly lottery gives you great chances to win fantastic prizes, while raising funds to help support the Armed Forces Community to live well after service.
You can play from as little as £1 a week, with the chance to win up to £25,000 every week!
1st prize £25,000, 2nd prize £1,000 and many runners up prizes!
*Terms and conditions apply. No under 18's allowed to enter.
Visit heroeslottery.affinitylottery.org.uk for full terms and conditions.
If you feel you have a problem with gambling, visit www.gambleaware.co.uk
or call the GamCare National Helpline on 0808 8020 133
RUSSELL’S LIFE-CHANGING ROAD TO RECOVERY
Veteran, Russell joined our Winter catalogue photoshoot with his wonderful family, to model everything from Christmas T-Shirts to striking patriotic kit and our staple heritage range. We thoroughly enjoyed having them along!
You can read Russell's powerful story below which is included in our new Winter catalogue, along with images from the photoshoot.
Former Leading Hand Russell joined the Royal Navy at 17. He loved being part of the Navy family and travelling the world. In 2004 Russell developed an infection after returning from deployment, which left him with life-changing physical injuries and mental health problems. Through Help for Heroes, Russell got the support he needed to rebuild his life, and he even represented his country as part of Team UK at the Invictus Games 2022.
“The military runs in my family; my dad and grandad were in the Army and my stepdad was in the RAF. The Falklands War was still in a lot of people’s memory when I was young, and then the first Gulf War happened. I’d wanted to join the military from a young age and the Navy allowed me to serve and travel. I loved the Navy family and the places we got to go.”
Upon returning from deployment in South America in 2004, Russell suffered a life-threatening infection, causing blood poisoning which left him with permanent muscle damage in both legs. He returned to the UK for surgery and spent the following month in a coma. It took him months to learn to walk again. Fifteen years later, he still relies on splints to walk and occasionally uses a walking stick.
At the time Navy doctors said he had recovered, but in 2010 Russell was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and anxiety. “I was having nightmares and had a very short temper. At my lowest I didn’t feel like myself, I could be angry, I didn’t want to go anywhere or see anyone. The only way I could cope was by drinking’’.
“There were some dark times when I thought about taking my own life and ending it all. It was very hard for my family to watch. I didn’t understand what was going on, and they didn’t either.”
Russell lived with his injuries and mental health issues for over a decade, but in 2018 he reached out to Help for Heroes Hidden Wounds Service. “Accessing Hidden Wounds potentially saved my life. The times I’d had suicidal thoughts, I didn’t go through with it, but who knows what would have happened if I’d have felt like that again and didn’t have the support’’.
Through Hidden Wounds Russell found the Big Battlefield Bike Ride and really caught the cycling bug, from there he went on to try out for the Invictus Games and got selected as part of Team UK at the Hague 2022.
“I can’t over state how important Help for Heroes has been in my recovery. From 2018 when I first got in contact to now, I have completely changed my life. I have gone from just existing and plodding on to really wanting to live and find things I enjoy doing’’. “I’ve got my confidence back, I’m able to speak to people again. It’s given me my life back’’.
HOW YOU HAVE HELPED JULES CLIMB UP FROM ROCK BOTTOM
Julian joined the Army aged 16 and loved the physical challenges and new friendships. One year into his service he suffered a back injury which he has had three operations for. His struggles with his physical and mental health were so tough, he tried to take his own life. Thanks to his determination, passion for sport, and having Help for Heroes by his side, Julian has turned his life around and is representing his country again, this time in adaptive sport.
Jules made the decision to leave the army due to his injury – where his mental health deteriorated, and he began drinking. “For years I would hardly speak to anyone. Self-isolation is probably the hardest thing’’.
“I'm a single parent looking after my two sons, one has special needs. The anger and drinking from my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affected my close family who worried that one day they’d get that dreaded phone call. I felt isolated from them because they didn't know how to support me, or how to deal with me.”
In 2016, Jules came forward for support from Help for Heroes and was assigned a case manager. ‘’ I was that overwhelmed, I started crying when he said the words ‘’ ‘we’ll help you’ ’’.
“It’s taken for people to take their own lives, for people to be aware that soldiers aren’t invincible, they're human beings, with feelings. We might put on a brave face but it will affect us. It may not affect us when we're serving, but it might affect us, like it did with me, 14 years later. The Hidden Wounds team at Help for Heroes allowed me to speak openly about my feelings and release those emotions. It’s so important to talk to people who understand’’.
Jules went from strength to strength, seeking support from the Sports Recovery programme at Help for Heroes, he began his Invictus journey, reaching the Invictus UK Trials and being selected for Team UK 2022 in wheelchair rugby.
“I competed in wheelchair rugby at the Invictus Games, it is an amazing sport. When I am playing, I am free from my disability and I’m not in pain. I'm in a zone and I completely forget about my physical and mental disabilities and the challenges of being a single parent.”
“My children have seen me at rock bottom. They've seen me where I couldn't even look after myself, let alone them. They now see me climbing a mountain. I'm not at the top yet, but I'm halfway there. I want to inspire them; I want to inspire my family and my friends. I want them to think this guy, our brother, our son, our dad was in a very bad place, but there's light at the end of the tunnel with hard work, support and caring people around you, such as charities, who give you that belief.”
Jules joined our Autumn catalogue photoshoot to model styles from our new collections and share his powerful story in the hope he can help other struggling veterans come forward for support.
NO MOUNTAIN TOO HIGH FOR WHEELCHAIR VETERAN, JAMES COBBY
On the 15th June a team of Help for Heroes staff, supporters and veterans, including James, a veteran who uses a wheelchair following a serious brain injury – completed the Op Ysbrydoli challenge to climb the highest peak in Wales, Pen-Y-Fan.
They wore specially designed T-Shirts for the climb, created by 6-year-old, Sayami from Mount Street Infants, in Brecon. Children from the SSCE Cymru (Supporting Service Children in Education) were invited to enter a competition to design the team’s T-Shirts to support the challenge.
The T-Shirt is available to purchase below, with 100% profit providing vital support to veterans and their families.
Last year, a six-strong team of veterans representing Wales won the Charity’s national virtual spring games. They had such a great time together, that they’ve stayed in touch and decided they’d like to carry out a further challenge this year.
The team included a ‘ringer’, West Sussex-based, former Royal Marine James Cobby, 30, who uses a wheelchair following an accident that resulted in a serious brain injury, but who has been defying doctors’ prognoses ever since. James stepped in to fill the gap left by a last-minute withdrawal and has been regarded as an honorary Welshman ever since.
James completed the challenge, with the support of the whole group, using a specially designed off-road wheelchair.
One of the organisers, Help for Heroes’ Sport, Activity & Fellowship Lead, Nick Vanderpump, explained: “There was such a great spirit within the team they decided they wanted to undertake a further challenge together and, with the benefit of an all-terrain wheelchair – and his fabulous support team – James was there again at the forefront of it. They’re all such great friends now, it’s heart-warming.
“The idea of the climb was not to fundraise, but to demonstrate the value of fellowship and personal goal setting for veterans on their journey of recovery. And this concept is a central tenet of what we do at Help for Heroes.”
The five-strong team who took on Pen Y Fan were Cobby, from Shoreham-by Sea; Liam Mountain, from Bridgend; Matt Neve, Swansea; Jason Tamplin, Newport; and Donna Davies, who lives in Hengoed.
