Help for Heroes charity hits £40 million mark

Set up by Shooting Gazette illustrator Bryn Parry with his wife Emma in October 2007, the charity has also pledged to raise a further £20 million for the support of those who have to leave the Services due to their life-changing injuries. 

Since its inception, Help for Heroes has received, on average, a staggering £47,000 a day.

To date over £34 million has been granted to facilities or services to improve the lives of those who are wounded in the service of the country, including £8 million for the building of a gym and swimming pool at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court.

The latest appeal, ‘The launch pad to Life’ fund, has enabled the charity to grant £20 million to help build four Recovery Centres, where the wounded can live while they prepare for the next phase of their lives.

Co-founder and CEO of Help for Heroes, Bryn Parry, said: “Reaching £40 million is a stupendous achievement and reflects the extraordinary respect and affection the ordinary, decent people of this country feel for the boys and girls of our Armed Forces.

“We are so grateful to everyone who has gone out and raised money for Help for Heroes, but we urge everyone to keep going.

“We believe that people who volunteer to serve in time of conflict are heroes – extraordinary men and women who daily risk their lives on our behalf and in some cases suffer life-changing injuries while doing so.

“They deserve the very best support we can give them.”

Chief of the General Staff, General Sir David Richards, said: “The British public has a long tradition of showing its support for our Armed Forces that stretches back centuries.

“Help for Heroes has recently given today’s public a way to demonstrate, practically, that continued, strong support.

“As the Head of the Army, I know only too well that war is brutal but has to be fought if we are to preserve our freedoms.

“If, while serving, our men and women are injured, it is of great comfort to know that their care, provided in partnership with the Service Charities, will be second to none.

“Thank you to all those who support Help for Heroes and so support us.”