LegionLive

LEGION SET FOR GROWTH, RESPONDING TO ARMED FORCES NEEDS

The Royal British Legion has unveiled plans for growth to its suite of health and welfare assistance as it prepares to meet the expanding needs of the UK Armed Forces community in the coming decade.

The new plans for growing advice and assistance follow an evidence-led health and welfare strategy across the organisation as the nation’s leading Armed Forces charity prepares for its second century of standing “Shoulder to shoulder with all who Serve.”

“These reforms will bring the Legion closer to the Armed Forces, closer to the communities we help, and enable us to help more people in times of need,” Director General Chris Simpkins told a national conference of Defence and charitable organisations gathered in London.

The reforms will increase the number and accessibility of help points nationwide where members of the Service community can turn for assistance, while reducing the number of fixed offices in inconvenient locations.

“We are a national organisation with local delivery and a community footprint. These reforms are aimed at bringing our assistance as close as we can to the point of need,” said Dr Simpkins. “We will also undertake more work in collaboration with other organisations of like mind, giving more responsibility and decision-making to those directly involved with client care and representation.”

The Royal British Legion spends £89million - or £1.7million every week - in direct welfare support to those who are serving in the Armed Forces, those who have served, and their dependants.

This represents a nearly 24 per cent increase on the previous year, and this growth in demand for its services show no signs of abating.

The proceeds of its annual Poppy Appeal helps the Legion respond to calls for assistance, although its fundraising and charity work continue year-round.

The reforms will ensure delivery of a new health and welfare strategy approved by the Legion’s Board of Trustees, which places greater importance on reaching vulnerable and isolated members of the Armed Forces community with a complete package of support at critical times in their lives.

Delegates to the conference were also told of the Legion’s plans to work more closely with the Armed Forces charitable sector, sharing office space, resources and shared delivery of welfare services where suitable.

Growth measures announced at the conference on Services welfare include two new nursing homes and increased dementia care for elderly veterans, while a home handy-van service to assist independent living will be rolled out nationwide.

The Legion is meanwhile assisting wounded, injured and sick Service personnel through a £50million grant to personnel recovery centres and a Battle Back centre for sports and adventure training.

Younger Forces families will benefit from two new adventure and family break centres, a new online financial advice and support package, and a single help point for Service leavers seeking civilian employment.

The £8million Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London was recently created to gain a better understanding of the injuries caused by roadside bombs and improve both treatment and the means of protection.

These services, and more, will be delivered through a network of help points supported by regional offices, while a digital delivery and contact centre is also being developed to access Legion support online.

“We have a wide and impressive support package offering through-life care for our brave Armed Forces and their patriotic families,” said Dr Simpkins. “The challenge will be in raising awareness of what we offer and of connecting our support with those who need it.”

The conference was told that reductions in Forces strength had combined with public service austerity measures and a sluggish economy to create a “perfect storm” of need for the Forces family.

“The Legion needs to respond to this new reality based on the facts and best practice,” said Dr Simpkins. “With these changes, we believe we’ve got it right.”

While the Legion is also known for its Poppy Appeal, Remembrance and comradeship activities, he added that its campaigning and welfare would remain its top priorities for the coming decade.

“Last year, we achieved the historic step of writing the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant into law,” Dr Simpkins said. “Our strategy is clear - we persuade Government to live up to its obligations to its Armed Forces, and we fill in any gaps that remain.”

Last week The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcomed home the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race to the Pole teams at a special reception in London. Watch our video to see what the Duke had to say about the amazing Polar adventurers.

 

The annual Army v Navy rugby match is taking place at Twickenham tomorrow and the Legion are this year’s chosen military charity.

Legion volunteers will be collecting at the match and poppyshop.org.uk will be at the ground selling Poppy merchandise.

Along with the main event there are a number of other games during the day including: Army Women v Royal Navy Women, Army Masters v Royal Navy Mariners and the Combined Services U23 v Oxbridge U23. With a crowd of over 60,000 expected it’s sure to be a good day.

If you can’t make it to the dame follow us on Twitter, @PoppyLegion, to get a flavour of the day.

Best of luck to both teams!

TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a reception to celebrate the achievements of two British Army teams who recreated the famous Scott-Amundsen race to the South Pole in support of The Royal British Legion.

The teams raced each other across Antarctica, covering 900 miles of snow and ice in 70 days to pay homage to the gruelling Polar contest between Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen a century ago.

TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Race to the Pole reception earlier today

As Patron of the expedition, Prince William spoke at the reception to congratulate the teams on their extraordinary achievement. He said:

“I find it hugely poignant that the participants in the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race are all British Servicemen. All but one of the original members of Scott’s team were serving sailors or soldiers, too. That today’s Armed Forces can produce individuals to emulate the extraordinary feats of their forebears is something we should take great heart from.　

“In a rapidly changing world, it is reassuring to know that two things, at least, haven’t changed this past hundred years: the fortitude of our men and women in uniform, and that very particular British trait of always seeking to push the boundaries…or, as many gathered here would have it: to go “beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow, across that angry or that glimmering sea.”

“That the Race chose to support, through The Royal British Legion, Battle Back’s new centre in Lilleshall could not be more appropriate. The same levels of courage and determination demonstrated by our Antarctic heroes in 1912 and 2012 are shown each and every day by our wounded Servicemen and women. Their courage and spirit simply humble me.”

True to history, the Amundsen team, led by Lt Col Henry Worsley MBE, reached the South Pole first on the 9 January 2012 and the Scott team led by Warrant Officer Mark Langridge arrived a week later on 17 January 2012 - exactly 100 years after the original Scott expedition.

En-route team members paid their respects to Capt Scott and his four comrades who perished on the journey back from the South Pole. Their tragic loss is seared in the nation’s memory as an enduring narrative of duty and sacrifice.

The Royal couple chatted to team members and their families about their epic challenge at the reception, which is one of three events they are attending ahead of their first wedding anniversary on Sunday.

Lt Col Henry Worsley MBE said: “There is a history of Royal Patronage for major Polar expeditions and we’re honoured to have The Duke of Cambridge as Patron in this important centenary year.

“It’s been an absolute privilege for us to be able to follow in the footsteps of the great Antarctic explorers. The journey was formidably demanding, but so worthwhile knowing that we are raising money for The Royal British Legion’s fantastic work.

“What we, as a British Army team, have gone through to reach the Pole is nothing compared to what injured and disabled fellow Service men and women will go through for the rest of their lives.”

National President of The Royal British Legion Lt Gen Sir John Kiszely KCB MC DL said: “This extraordinary Army expedition was a pursuit to recreate one of the most challenging and difficult journeys ever attempted by man.

“Even with modern equipment, it tested the courage, ability, strength and endurance of the team members to their limit, and in doing so demonstrated all that is admirable about our Armed Forces.”

The Legion is proud to be supported by the Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race, which is raising vital funds for The Royal British Legion’s £30 million commitment to the Battle Back Centre, Lilleshall, to help wounded, injured and sick Service people on their personal journeys of recovery.

The Centre is focused on rebuilding confidence, ability and motivation through adaptive sports and adventurous training. It is a place where even small steps can feel like great leaps of accomplishment for young men and women who are used to being at the peak of their physical fitness.

The Duchess of Cambridge chats to Sapper Clive Smith

Sapper Clive Smith, a 26 year-old double-leg amputee of 33 Engineer Regiment bomb disposal unit, was seriously injured in an IED blast in Afghanistan in 2010. He recently attended the Battle Back Centre, and was at the reception today. He said:

“It was an honour to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today, I spent a while chatting to them about my time at the Battle Back Centre. For wounded Service people like me, the Centre will make all the difference in recovery.

“I took part in activities like wheelchair basketball and bowling, and managed to scale a wall while rock climbing, which was brilliant. The encouragement I received from the staff and others on the course was fantastic, and none of this would have been possible without the important work the Legion do supporting the Armed Forces.”

The Royal British Legion are thrilled to have been given the opportunity to involve some of our supporters in the Diamond Jubilee Pageant taking place at Windsor Castle from the 10^th - 13^th May, in celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The performance will take attendees on a journey that follows the State and Commonwealth visits The Queen has made during Her reign. Over 500 horses and 800 international performers will come together in a spectacular programme of horsemanship, military displays, music and dancing.

Confirmed music artists have been chosen to represent different countries in the show. They include Grammy nominated Susan Boyle, world renowned American classical violinist David Garrett, critically acclaimed Nashville singer and banjo player Abigail Washburn, legendry Australian entertainer Rolf Harris, metropolitan Indian folk legend Raghu Dixit and leading South African actors from the West End smash hit Disney’s The Lion King who will be joined on stage by the Nairobi Chamber Chorus & Watoto Children’s Choir and classical maestros Il Divo. Confirmed narrators include Dame Helen Mirren, Alan Titchmarsh, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Omid Djalili and Martin Clunes.

If you are interested in joining us on one of the nights the Legion has the following ticket options available.

Corporate Box Tickets

Corporate Boxes for this unique event have been sold out for some time - but the Legion has managed to obtain two boxes of 20 seats for each night and one box of 20 for Saturday. This deal includes catering, VIP parking, a specially commissioned book and commemorative gift, together with ringside seats for the performance. Cost per person is £750.

Royal Box tickets

In addition, the Legion has four tickets per night for Thursday 10 May and Friday 11 May in the Royal Box, in which The Princess Royal (Thursday) and HRH The Duke of Wessex (Friday) will be present. If you’re interested in these tickets, the cost will be £1,000 each.

To be a part of this truly one-in-a-lifetime experience, please contact Teresa Greener urgently as seats are selling fast.

Contact:

Teresa Greener T: 020 3207 2275 E: tgreener@britishlegion.org.uk

More information about the Pageant is available on their website http://www.diamond-jubilee-pageant.com/

Yesterday the painstaking process of engraving the names on the Armed Forces Memorial of the UK Servicemen and women who were killed on duty or through terrorism in 2011 started.

Nick Hindle at work

The engraver, Nick Hindle, started work at 09:30hrs, carefully tracing the characters of the first names to be engraved, before picking up his hammer and chisel to make the first mark in the Portland Stone.

Nick said: “While it’s a humbling task to engrave the names of our brave servicemen and women every year, I’m also proud that, as a result of what I do, their names will now endure for centuries to come. I meet many families every year who want to see the name of a loved one being engraved. In speaking to them, it’s clear just how important the Armed Forces Memorial is.”

The names of those killed will be read out and dedicated in a special service for families later in the year.　

Yesterday nearly 80 fundraisers took to the streets of London to run the Virgin London Marathon for The Royal British Legion. Between them an incredible £120,000 was raised!

Many of our runners got into the spirit of the event running covered in poppies, wearing poppy hats or, as one runner Tom did, dressed as a giant poppy!

A crowd of 50 supporters, volunteers and family members joined our cheering station at 13 miles giving our runners a much-needed boost at the half way mark.

Among the Legion’s runners were a number who are currently in the Armed Forces, with many commenting on the important work of the Legion and its relevance to those serving today.

 

London Cabbie, and ex-Lance Corporal in the Royal Signals Stephen Kennedy, completed his first ever marathon and chose the Legion because the charity helped get his life back on track.

He said: “I’m so happy to have completed the marathon in support of the Legion. I ran to help other Armed Forces veterans, after the Legion helped me find a home, access my war pension and train as a London Taxi Driver. I wouldn’t have made it to this point without the Legion’s help.”

Russell Thompson, the Legion’s National Director of Fundraising said: “It’s been a fantastic day, and I want to congratulate all the runners for taking part in such a momentous event and raising an overwhelming sum of money for the Legion. This will go towards providing financial, employment and housing support to the Armed Forces family, and the recovery of current serving personnel.

The Legion Learning Pack for 2011/2012

Have you taken a look at The Royal British Legion’s 2011/2012 Learning Pack?  The Pack is designed to help teachers introduce themes like Remembrance into the classroom.  Although it primarily covers the History and Citizenship curricula, it can also be used to support literacy and aspects of PSHE and Religious Studies.

The Pack - which is free - can be used either as a starting point for certain topics, or to inspire teachers and other users to complementary routes on tackling these themes. The factual information included on each topic is enough for a single lesson, or as a trigger for extended activities.

A student gets inspired

The Legion also produces a triple-disk CD Rom and DVD set, which gives teachers and students access to an extensive amount of archive and contemporary information. This is also available free of charge, all year round.

Hard copies of the Learning Packs and / or the CD Rom and DVD set can be ordered here. Make sure to leave your full name, the name of your school or the organisation you represent with full address. The very latest Learning Pack can also be downloaded right here.

This Sunday is the Virgin London Marathon and, as always, many runners have chosen the Legion as their charity of choice.

Over 60 people will be taking part with the Poppy adorning their race vest and between them they are expected to raise over £120,000 towards our vital Welfare work.

Here is the second blog profiling some of our fantastic runners.

Melanie Green

Melanie Green

Melanie Green is running the marathon to raise money for the Legion in memory of her dad, Edward (Ted) Green, who passed away suddenly last year after leading a very fit and healthy life. Melanie’s dad was a standard bearer for his local branch of the Legion in Rugby and would collect for the Poppy Appeal each year. As a young man, he served as a paratrooper in the Territorial Army, which led Melanie to volunteer for the TA herself, serving 14 years in the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry Band and one year’s full time reserve service with the Coldstream Guards.

“My dad believed that The Royal British Legion made a difference in the lives of many and I’m proud to be supporting a cause he believed in.”

Melanie will be using her talents as a clarinet player to raise as much Marathon sponsorship as possible towards the Legion’s valuable work, by holding a number of recital concerts in her local area.

For details on Melanie’s upcoming concerts and to support her fundraising efforts, please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MelanieJGreen

 

Stephen Kennedy

Stephen Kennedy

London taxi driver, Stephen Kennedy had a very difficult time after leaving the Army, experiencing homelessness and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. At times, Stephen felt like there was no future for him, but he made contact with the Legion who helped him find a home, access his war pension and funded his Knowledge exam, so he could start a career as a taxi driver. Stephen is running the London Marathon to raise money for the Legion’s vital work, to give something back and help others in a similar situation.

“Why the Legion? Several years after leaving the Army, I was in trouble - homeless, jobless and no contact with my daughter. The Legion helped me re-train as a London Cabbie, now I’m happily married and in a happy home. My daughter is back in my life, and I have been blessed with another beautiful girl. I wouldn’t have made it to this point without the Legion’s help, so I’m running 26 miles and 385 yards to raise funds to help future Armed Forces veterans.”

To raise money for the Legion, Stephen will be collecting at taxi ranks throughout London, so keep your eyes peeled for him! If you would like to donate in the meantime, please visit Stephen’s fundraising page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/runfatdadrun

This Sunday is the Virgin London Marathon and, as always, many runners have chosen the Legion as their charity of choice.

Over 60 people will be taking part with the Poppy adorning their race vest and between them they are expected to raise over £120,000 towards our vital Welfare work.

Over the next couple of days we will be profiling some of the runners and hearing why they are taking in the challenge.

Hollie Abbot

Hollie Abbot

Hollie Abbot is running this year’s marathon for The Royal British Legion in memory of her cousin Captain Dan Wright who was tragically killed in a parachute training accident in 2005, aged just 25. Hollie’s tribute to Capt Wright is even more poignant because she will be running in his footsteps, after he took on the challenge of the London Marathon in 2004.

“The Royal British Legion’s case officers supported my family following my cousin’s death, which really helped in our time of grief. I wanted to give something back to the Legion, because it’s such an important charity for Service families like mine.”

To help her reach her fundraising goal Hollie, a student at Roehampton University, hosted a fantastic live music night for her friends and supporters. To boost her fundraising efforts even further, please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HollieAbbott

Hollie will be displaying her support for the Legion by wearing a fetching Poppy hat on the marathon!! We’ll be looking out for you Hollie, good luck!

Nick Robinson 

Nick Robinson

Serving member of HM Armed Forces, L/Cpl Nick has been in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit for the last 8.5 years.

He has friends who have been seriously wounded in IED explosions in Afghanistan and he wants to do his bit to help serving and ex-Service personnel who need the Legion’s help.

“I have just returned home from a seven month deployment in Afghanistan. During this tour of duty two of my mates received life changing injuries. This is my way to raise some money to not only help injured soldiers get back on their feet, but also help their families to come to terms with what’s happened. Please donate as much as you can, as every penny really will help to improve their lives and make a difference.”

To support Nick’s fundraising efforts, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Nick-Robinson7