LegionLive

The Royal British Legion kicked off its 90th year as the nation’s leading Armed Forces charity today by unveiling a nationwide ‘March For Honour’ to recognise sacrifices made in Afghanistan.

Taking place from 4th - 13th November 2010, March For Honour pays tribute and honours to each service person lost on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, with service personnel marching one mile for every life lost. The March aims to raise £1 million pounds for The Royal British Legion’s 2010 Poppy Appeal.

Speaking at a photo call outside the Royal Albert Hall, March For Honour creator, Lance Corporal Ram Patten, said: ‘Having served in Afghanistan, I appreciate the support the Legion provides to returning troops with physical and mental injuries and the families of the bereaved. The March provides an opportunity to thank The Royal British Legion, raise vital funds and make the public aware of the brilliant work they do by standing shoulder to shoulder with those who serve.’

L/Cpl Patten later met The Prime Minister David Cameron at No.10 Downing Street. Speaking after the meeting, L/Cpl Patten said: ‘We spoke about the concept, how I came up with the idea, and my desire to raise £1 million for The Royal British Legion.’

Teams from the Royal Navy, the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines will set off from four locations across the country, converging on Wootton Bassett to collect the Book of Remembrance before marching to London for the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall. The Festival will be broadcast on BBC One on Saturday 13th November.

The Royal British Legion’s Director of National Events and Fundraising, Russell Thompson OBE, said, ‘March For Honour encapsulates what we are all about. The funds raised from March For Honour and the 2010 Poppy Appeal will fund our vital welfare and rehabilitation work for the Armed Forces community. The Legion spends over £1.4 million each week in its work and we have recently committed £12 million to The Royal British Legion Battle Back Challenge Centre, a facility being built to help rehabilitate injured and seriously wounded Servicemen through adaptive use of sport and adventurous training.’

The Royal British Legion’s longest-serving Poppy collector is today being laid to rest after dying at the age of 105.

Noelle Benda Whitehead, Lady Milverton, was born in 1904 and started volunteering for the Poppy Appeal when she was 16. Throughout her life she continued to distribute poppies every November - even when she was living in British colonial territories.

Peter Hearne, a Queen’s Messenger and Poppy Appeal organiser for Devon, said of Noelle: ‘She collected for the Poppy Appeal last year and, as usual, her effort yielded the biggest tin returned.’

Lady Milverton’s incredible contribution to the Legion was recognised when she turned 100, when she was the guest of honour at Devon’s Festival of Remembrance. She received 80 year’s worth of Poppy Appeal collector awards from the Lord Lieutenant of Devon!

Her funeral is being held at 2.30pm in Devon at All Saints Church in her home village of Holbeton.

As the announcement comes that the Poppy Calls scheme is being rolled out in Northumberland, I thought it was a good opportunity for me to remind everybody what the service involves.

Poppy Calls aims to help give veterans and members of the ex-Service community the freedom to stay independent in their own homes and offers help with awkward jobs such as minor repairs, or fitting essential devices such as smoke detectors and care phones.

Kevin Higgins, a Poppy Calls fitter in Northumberland says: ‘Poppy Calls is a service which is all about giving something back to those people who have put their own life at risk and given to their country and to their families who supported them to do this.

‘No matter how small it may seem – like changing a tap washer through to making alterations for wheel chair users – our work can make a massive difference to the lives of those people we’re there to help.’

The Poppy Calls service is entirely funded by public donations through the British Royal Legion’s Poppy Appeal, and in 2009 our ten Poppy Calls vans helped more than 7,000 people.
If you or anybody you know would benefit from the service, please call Poppy Calls on 01480 478031.

Poppies will streak across the skies above Switzerland this weekend as Major Alastair Macartney, Team Leader of The Royal British Legion Extreme Human Flight Team, Jump4Heroes, races head to head against professional athletes in the Wingsuit BASE Jumping World Cup.

Maj Macartney will throw himself off a 2,000ft cliff in a bid to be crowned World Champion in human flight.

He will be wearing his Poppy wingsuit, commonly referred to as a “squirrel suit”, and will be flying at speeds in excess of 100 mph mere inches from the cliff face. The wingsuit allows him to use his body as an aerofoil and cover huge horizontal distances.

He will have to fly 1.2km in freefall in under 20 seconds, open his Poppy parachute and have a safe, accurate landing in order to be a medal contender.

The World Cup is being held at Lauterbrunnen in a mountain range close to the infamous Eiger, which the team conquered in September 2009.

In the competition, two athletes will leap from the 2,000ft high plateau racing head-to-head. In knock-out competition, the first across the finish line will go through to the next round.

This is hardcore extreme BASE jumping pitting the best Extreme Sports athletes in the world in open competiton. Maj Macartney is the only UK athlete to have been selected to compete at this prestigious level.

A serving Army officer, Maj Macartney has led Jump4Heroes in competitions and displays in support of the Legion since last November.

He recently completed a tandem skydive with injured soldier and double amputee Ben Parkinson, and the skydiving team intend to become officially recognised as parachute trainers attached to The Royal British Legion’s £12m Battle Back Challenge Centre to be operated in partnership with the British Army.

‘It is a great honour to be the only athlete to have been selected to represent UK at this World Cup,’ said Maj Macartney. ‘It is an even greater honour to do so flying The Royal British Legion colours in an early Remembrance Day tribute.

‘Taking extreme risks to help raise awareness for the forthcoming Poppy Appeal is nothing compared to what the Troops in Afghanistan are doing right now,’ he added. ‘The Royal British Legion spends £1.4million pounds a week supporting current and former servicemen. I just hope that we can get a bit of awareness for them and provide assistance as they vitally need support.’

I’ve just read the wonderfully inspiring piece on the UK Forces Afghanistan blog about a father and son who have crossed paths in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan as one tour ends and one begins.

Marine James Hoyes, 22, is on his way back to Taunton after a six month tour of Helmand Province with 40 Commando Royal Marines whilst his dad, Territorial Army Captain Christopher Wilcock, 41, is beginning his six month tour with 23 Engineer Regiment Air Assault, serving with 1st Battalion Irish Guards Brigade Advisory Group.

Christopher said “It’s surreal to end up together with so many factors conspiring to keep us apart and yet here we are in the same place. I doubt if we will ever be in this situation again. I was as happy as 10 men to see James safe and well, on his way home for some well-earned post tour leave.”

James is pleased that he is leaving Sangin ‘a better place’, yet does not deny the difficult task that the forces faced, which has made him ‘look at life differently’ and not take things for granted.

I bet the men can’t wait for when they finally cross paths again with both of them in the UK, with the rest of their family.

Suzanne Dando and her team of amazing women are back from their expedition across the Pyrenees and have just sent me some of their fantastic pictures of the trip!

The above photo shows them at a service at the St Girons Museum.

On day three the ladies reached the highest point of their journey, look at the incredible views!

Finally, here’s a snap of the last night, at the Refuge des Estangnous.

Congratulations, it must have been a challenging but rewarding experience!

As many of you will be aware, Ride to the Wall 2010 is taking place this weekend. I blogged about the event last month, but just wanted to give you the official details as a few things have changed since then (date included).

The event takes place this Saturday, 2nd October 2010. At 11am, motorcyclists will start leaving Drayton Manor Park for the 17 mile ride to the National Memorial Arboretum.  At 2;30pm, there will be a fly past and the motorcyclists will gather for a service of Remembrance at the walls of the Armed Forced Memorial.  It is engraved with the names of more than 16,000 service men and women killed on duty or by terrorist action since the end of the Second World War.

Joining the ride this year are Margaret and Tony Boote of Birkenhead, the parents of Corporal Steven Boote, who was killed in Nad e-Ali, Afghanistan in November 2009.  They have honoured his plans to customise his beloved BMW motorcycle into a trike and they will ride it together to honour his memory.  A team of uniformed Royal Military Police outriders will accompany them on the ride.

During October and November a photographic collection entitled Portraits for Posterity will be exhibited across three venues in the Lichfield area.  The exhibition is a unique memorial to survivors of the Nazi Holocaust who are still living in Staffordshire.

The National Memorial Arboretum will join together with South Staffordshire College’s Lichfield campus and Lichfield Cathedral to present the exhibition of survivor portraits.  Taken by respected photographer Matt Writtle, who began his career locally, each portrait is accompanied by a short biography drawn from the sitter’s own words.

Portraits for Posterity had a highly acclaimed debut exhibition at London’s City Hall in January 2009, with enthusiastic reviews in the national media, after which it was decided to include Holocaust survivors living in other areas of the country.  This local dimension will be the underlying theme of the Lichfield event, making it a compelling opportunity for local people to ‘reach out and touch’ the legacy left by the world’s most pernicious regime.

2015 will mark the 70th anniversary of the defeat of the Third Reich and the liberation of the Nazi camps.  It will also be the last major commemoration to feature a significant participation by the victims themselves.  Portraits for Posterity is dedicated to educating both young and old about the Holocaust by providing a highly visual, flexible and mainstream gateway to this invaluable historical record.  It also holds an important message for the 21st Century.

The exhibition will be formally opened by Graham Morley, Chief Executive Principal of South Staffordshire College, on October 19th, with invited guests and survivor testimonies.

Viewing times are as follows:-

National Memorial Arboretum
Monday, 11th October to Sunday, 14th November, 9:00am to 5.00pm
For further details call 01283 792333, email info@thenma.org.uk or visit the website.

South Staffordshire College, Lichfield campus - Wedge Gallery
Tuesday 12 October to Friday 12 November
9.00am to 9.00pm weekdays; 9.00am to 6.00pm on Fridays and during half term (25 - 29 Oct); 9.00am to 1.00pm Saturdays
For further information please visit the website.

Lichfield Cathedral
Tuesday 19 October to Sunday 14 November
The Cathedral is open from 7.30am to 6.15pm on weekdays; 8.00am to 6.15pm on Saturdays; 7.30am to 5.00pm on Sundays
For further information please visit the website.

Yesterday, more than 130 valiant service personnel were honoured for their actions and bravery whilst serving our country in this year’s Operational Honours List.

Here’s a couple of inspiring tales of bravery to end your Friday with:

Cpl Ricky Furgusson was awarded the Military Cross after losing both his legs, his fingers and an eye in a bomb blast in Afghanistan.  Furgusson repeatedly risked his life to protect comrades injured by IEDs, until he was wounded himself in January this year.  Despite this, Ricky remains upbeat and immensely proud of his actions, saying, ‘ninety per cent of the time, I kept them alive and they are up and walking about now. I am proud.’

Another notable achievement was Flt Lt Ian Fortune, who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying six injured troops to safety in a Chinook helicopter after being shot in the cheek by Afghan insurgents.

The selflessness, commitment and camaraderie shown by these men  - and the other 130 personnel I wish I could mention here - is commendable, and they deserve all the recognition they have received!

The Royal British Legion ‘90 Jump for 90’ sky dive at Dunkeswell Devon.

Joan Harding, from Colchester in Essex, today marked her 90th birthday by tandem skydiving with the Red Devils. The event was part of celebrations to mark The Royal British Legion’s 90th Anniversary.

Mrs Harding said: ‘What an experience! I’ve always wanted to skydive and wish I hadn’t waited until I was 90 to take part.  I think I’ll have to go again! I’d recommend skydiving to anyone whatever their age.  The Red Devils really made it such a memorable day for me, letting me join in a formation with the red smoke canisters!’

Along with Joan, Serving personnel from 17 Port & Maritime Regiment - Southampton, the RAC Training Regiment - Bovington and the Dorset based Rifles, along with 20 others have jumped to raise money for The Royal British Legion. The Legion is the UK’s leading service charity providing financial, social and emotional support to service people past and present and their families.

Of the fundraising efforts Joan commented. ‘My great grandson has recently returned from Afghanistan and on hearing his stories I feel honoured to be able to fundraise for his comrades.  I will be delighted if my jump can go someway to helping even just one of the youngsters returning from Afghanistan’.

Louise Ravula Community Fundraiser for The Royal British Legion said: ‘As the Legion reaches its 90th year, we’ve never been needed more.  Recent conflicts mean that more and more we’re supporting the Afghan generation of the Armed Forces and their families and we’ll be there for them now and for the rest of their lives.

‘The sky dive is a unique way to raise money and provide participants with an exhilarating challenge.  Mrs Harding alone has raised £2,000 and the other jumpers hope to raise around £10,000.  This money will go a significant way in enabling us to continue to deliver our important welfare work in 2011 and beyond.’