Dear H4H supporter,

With Valentine’s Day on February 14th, Emma and the H4H creative team have produced a wonderful range of merchandise to allow those missing their loved ones to express their feelings. With 10,000 Servicemen and women serving in Afghanistan and many more away in other bases around the world, there are thousands of us thinking of them; so let’s tell them.

If you are related to someone or have a loved one in the Armed Forces, then on Valentine’s Day show that you are thinking of them and wear our new Loved One medal pin to show your support. Pin it on, step out and show the world that you have a loved one serving our country; show that you are proud of them.

The love that the relatives of Servicemen and women feel for their boy or girl is not a one day event. It is a declaration of solid and enduring commitment that ensures that they can get on with the fight, confident that you are back home with the family and thinking of them. In many ways it can be as hard to be the ones left behind as it is to be out there. You are a vital part of that team, you are having to share that experience, so thank you and ‘keep backing the blokes’.

To those of you who have no close connection with one of ‘the blokes’ but are still providing that wonderful support, thank you so much. We know how hard you are working on your events or your fund raising and we are so grateful, as are those who are fighting. Keep it up, spread the word, show your support, you are allowed to be proud.

Thank you all,

Bryn

Message From A H4H County Co-ordinator:

This month, Bernice Brady, our Wiltshire County Co-ordinator, writes about her experiences so far as part of the H4H team:

I suppose it was almost inevitable that I would end up joining Help for Heroes. I am an ex-servicewoman, a Royal Air Force Auxiliary Medic, married to a serviceman and currently working at Royal Air Force Lyneham. It was here in particular that my increasing contact with injured servicemen and women and families of those being repatriated that kindled my interest in Help for Heroes and a desire to make a difference.

So since those early days in October 2008 when I joined as a Wiltshire group Co-ordinator, I have seen the organisation go from strength to strength and experienced the never ending generosity of the people of Wiltshire. Indeed I am fortunate that my role at Royal Air Force Lyneham brings me in contact with many of the servicemen and women injured on operations and I have seen first hand the difference Help for Heroes is making in areas such as Headley Court and Selly Oak.

Wiltshire in particular has a strong affinity with the organisation, based not only on the tireless work of the Hercules fleet and medical evacuation teams working out of Lyneham, but the dignified manner in which the people of Wootton Bassett conduct themselves at each and every repatriation. So at times my job is easy, and we are constantly flooded by service personnel and civilians alike, seeking to give of their best and raise money on behalf of Help for Heroes. I am continually astonished at the constant rate by which donations pour in from only a few pounds to many thousands. All in all, it is such generosity that keeps me going and spurs me on to do as much as I can for this exceptional charity.

So, as I sit here writing my ‘blog’ for the Newsletter, waiting for my husband to deploy to Afghanistan again for the third time in eighteen months, I look at what will get me through another birthday and Valentine’s day on my own? (He will do anything to save on presents!!) Well I suppose there is the charity auction coming up in Swindon soon, the talk I need to give to the ladies of the Kingsdown Golf Club, the rugby match at Bath Rugby Club and the next record attempt that the inspirational Mike Buss will undertake, as he endeavours to break 20 world records and raise over £1 million pounds by 2014. I am therefore not alone. The Help for Heroes ‘family’ continues to grow and I am privileged to meet some amazing and devoted people in my role as group co-ordinator. Thus I look forward to another successful and rewarding year, and hope that we can raise even more than we did in 2009!!