LegionLive

Merry Christmas from The Royal British Legion

 

Thank you to everyone for all your support throughout 2011. Whether you volunteer, take part in our events, wear a poppy in November or show your support in other ways we appreciate each and every one of you.

We’re taking a little break from our online exploits over the festive period but rest assured we’ll be back in the new year sharing our news and views on the Armed Forces community and those that support them on a daily basis.

From all at the Legion - we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year.

See you in 2012!

For today’s blog we’ll take a look at some of the highlights from the second half of 2011.

Pedal to Paris

Now in its 16th year, Pedal to Paris has become a firm favourite in the Legion’s calendar. Almost 300 cyclists completed the four-day 460 kilometre adventure from Greenwich to Paris.
The warm welcome the riders receive from villages and towns along the route is always a highlight - the result of a strong bond of history between the Legion, its cyclists and the people of northern France.
And the grand finale is an escorted ride up the Champs Elysée to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, one of the few events beside the Tour De France which is granted the privilege.

Poppy Appeal 2011 launch

TV presenter Gethin Jones and singers of the official Poppy Appeal single 2011, The Soldiers, launched the 2011 Poppy Appeal from Riverside Studios, Hammersmith in late October.

A number of our fantastic beneficiaries were also on hand to talk about their personal experiences of being helped by the Legion.

Silence in the Square

A host of celebrities including Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey and Vincent Simone & Flavia Cacace from Strictly Come Dancing joined The RoyalBritish Legion for their Silence in the Square event in Trafalgar Sqaure to mark Armistice Day.

This year the event was once again streamed live via the web to a global audience with people tuning in from places as far afield as Australia, India and also Afghanistan.

With the end of the year fast approaching and Christmas now on the horizon, we can finally take a minute to slow down and reflect on what has been an incredible 12 months for the Legion.  

I hope you enjoy this two part series which features everything from fundraising challenges to tea with the Prime Minister and even HRH The Prince of Wales on a Harley Davidson!

Ran the London Marathon

In April, seventy brave souls ran the London Marathon raising over £10,000 for the Legion. The runners were boosted by a 50-strong cheering squad who waved cheer sticks, wore Poppy t-shirts and munched on massive Legion-branded cupcakes.

Most of the runners had a personal connection with the Armed Forces with a few raising money in memory of loved ones who had recently been killed in Afghanistan such as Sarah Phillips whose cousin was killed in a double IED explosion, along with two other comrades, in 2009.   

 

Pledged £50 million to Personnel Recovery Centres

 

The Prince of Wales rode a Harley Davidson

HRH The Prince of Wales

The quiet hush of the Clarence House garden was shattered by the roar of motorcycle engines as HRH The Prince of Wales welcomed members of The Royal British Legion Riders Branch to Clarence House to thank them for their services to the British Armed Forces.

Ninety members of the branch brought their bikes to the lunchtime reception hosted by The Prince of Wales. The Prince of Wales tried one of the bikes out for size, revving the engine as the owner pointed out some of the bike’s finer features.

Partied with the PM David Cameron

David Cameron at the Poppy Party

Prime Minister David Cameron hosted a party at Number 10 Downing Street to celebrate The Royal British Legion’s 90th Anniversary.

The Prime Minister invited 160 guests to the Poppy Party, including injured Service personnel, bereaved Armed Forces families and veterans of Afghanistan and previous conflicts.

Dame Vera Lynn DBE also attended as a long-standing supporter of the Legion.

The Prime Minister commended the Legion for its role in supporting Serving and ex-Service personnel, and their families, through nine decades of charitable work.

'Honour the Covenant' campaign was launched in 2007

Some good news came out of parliament earlier today with the Government announcing a new Ministerial Committee responsible for dealing with issues around the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Legion welcomes this new committee as we have been campaigning on the Covenant since 2007 when the ‘Honour the Covenant’ campaign was first launched. Progress has been genuinely impressive; we campaigned successfully for the core principles of the Covenant to be written into law and recently succeeded in persuading the Government to preserve the role of the Chief Coroner.

 This new committee will allow the Government and Service charities to work together ensuring principles of the Covenant directly improve day-to-day life for our brave Service men and women and their families.

 We believe that urgent action is now needed in these three key areas: 

• how the principle of special treatment can help the wounded, injured and sick
• how to improve support for reservists, and their families, given increasing reliance on them
• the need for a body to deal with veterans’ complaints, such as serving personnel already have

 As an independent member of the Covenant Reference Group, set up to scrutinise the application of the Covenant across public life, The Legion will continue to hold the Government to account on its promise to make benefits a reality for the whole of the Armed Forces community.

 The Legion is about so much more than just the Poppy Appeal. We are the nation’s leading campaigning organisation for the Armed Services. You can read more about our campaigns on our website.

Sophie with her gorgeous family

The Military Wives Choir single ‘Wherever You Are’ is officially out today! You can get it now from Amazon or download on iTunes!

To celebrate, one of the Military Wives, Sophie O’Sullivan has written a guest blog about her experiences in the choir and why she is supporting the Legion and SSAFA Forces Help. Hope you enjoy reading!

 ”Being part of an Armed Forces family, you get used to moving around a lot and meeting people is always a challenge. So when I was approached by Gareth Malone to be part of the BBC series ‘The Choir: Military Wives’ I jumped at the opportunity. The choir has been a fantastic way to make friends and get help and support from people in the same boat as me.

I live in Chievnor, Devon with my husband Daniel who is a vehicle mechanic in the Commando Logistic Regiment Royal Marines, and our three children.

Our youngest, Sienna, was just two weeks old when Daniel left for his latest tour of Afghanistan but being in the choir seemed to make the time fly by, much quicker than usual.

Earlier this year, the Legion sent our whole family on a Poppy Break to Cornwall when Daniel was back on R&R. It was our first family holiday we had ever taken together and I surprised Daniel with it the day before! It was so exciting for all of us and just for that weekend we were able to not think about goodbyes and just enjoy being together.

We are pushing hard to get the single to Number 1 for Christmas and are so pleased the proceeds are being donated to the Legion and SSAFA Forces Help. The whole choir is buzzing from this project and we’re so pleased to be able to give back to two fantastic charities that do so much for the Armed Forces. Our single is out today so please show your support and download it now!”

Sophie x

In the run-up to Christmas, the MOD online news team has put together a selection of images showcasing the special projects and achievements of our Armed Forces over the past year.

They are posting one photo a day up until December 24^th.

I particularly like today’s photo of Private Nathan McFarland, from 2^nd Battalion The Royal Welsh, getting a great big bear hug by his son Jack!

 

There's nothing better than a hug from Dad! Private Nathan McFarland with his son Jack

 

 

The past two nights has seen the Legion embrace the seasonal festivities in style with the magnificent Christmas Celebration event at the Guildhall in London. The annual event has become so popular - selling out months in advance - that for the first time ever the event was extended to a second night

Guests were treated to traditional carols and seasonal music and readings. A number of celebrity supporters were present including Brendan Cole from Downton Abbey, Bernard Cribbins and Sir Timothy Ackroyd amongst others. Carol Vorderman hosted the first night, and Alastair Stewart taking up his regular hosting role on the second.

 A great time was had by all and, of course, the whole event helped to raise vital funds for the Legions welfare work.

(L-R) Charles Dance, Nerys Hughes, Brendan Coyle, Bernard Cribbins, and host Alistair Stewart

Private Bryan Johnson with Sergeant Glen Gardiner

 A number of brave Servicemen have received military honours at Buckingham Palace today. The Military Cross is granted “in recognition of an act of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy.”

Three of the Servicemen receiving their awards today all served with The Royal Regiment of Scotland and each has their own tale of determination and courage to tell.

Private Bryan Johnson, just 24 years old, saved a fellow soldier by dragging him to safety in the midst of a Taliban ambush. Private Johnson had only served 11 months!

Sergeant Glen Gardiner, 35, risked his life by going to assist Afghan Army troops who had suffered a casualty. Two rounds passed through his day sack and he was blown off his feet by a grenade.

Captain Iain Curran, 28, is receiving the Military Cross for helping to recover the body of his fallen comrade while under heavy insurgent fire.

I really love his quote which I think displays the essence of the UK Armed Forces, their humility and motivation to just get on with the job. He said; “To see so many bear huge sacrifices and continue to display the humour and fighting spirit for which Scottish soldiers are famous was reward enough.”

All recipients said they were honoured and humbled to be recognised in this way.

These are just a few examples of acts of exemplary gallantry that are occurring every day on the frontline. Their humility inspires us and reminds us what it is to be British.

Congratulations to everyone receiving their award today.

If you’ve been wondering what Jump4Heroes, The Royal British Legion’s Extreme Human Flight Team, have been up to lately then wonder no more.

Yesterday ‘Santa and his helpers’ sky-dived into the Duke of Gloucester Barracks, near Cirencester, to deliver Christmas gifts to the children of 29 Regiment. The children, all of who have a parent currently serving in Afghanistan, were ecstatic to see Santa arrive via parachute, with one exclaiming ‘Santa’s flying!’. The gifts were kindly donated by Vivid Imaginations.

To see a video of their jump and the children receiving their presents click below.

Now I know most people are still to finish their Christmas shopping and can’t think any further than the 25^th December but I have some exciting news for those of you that are already looking for a new challenge for 2012.

We have a small number of places left for the 2012 Virgin London Marathon. This is always a fantastic day and 1000s of people turn out to support and cheer the runners.

If you are interested, call Fiona Lyons on 020 3207 2268 or email her at flyons@britishlegion.org.uk as soon as possible. The registration cost is £120 and we are asking for £1,800 in sponsorship.

It would be wonderful to have you on our Virgin London Marathon 2012 team.