LegionLive

In celebration of The Royal British Legion’s 90th Anniversary, the top prize in the Christmas 2011 raffle was an unprecedented £90,000.

Earlier this month Direct Marketing Campaign Co-ordinator Julia Czastka had the pleasure of visiting winner Chas Tamblin in February to present the cheque.

Julia presents the cheque to Riders Branch member Chas Tamblin and his wife Sue

Mr Tamblin said of being told he was the winner ‘I had just been going over my finances, wondering how I would make them stretch for this month and then I received the call, I just couldn’t believe it’.

In fact the news did not sink in for Chas Tamblin and his wife Sue until they were presented with their cheque. Chas summarised the experience: ‘Initial shock, followed by excitement followed by disbelief and now the knowledge that this will change our lives completely. We have worked hard all our lives; this win has given us independence, now we plan to enjoy ourselves while we still can.’

Chas Tamblin has a long history with the Legion. His parents were ex-Service and members of Legion clubs in Brixton and Plympton in Devon and he has many happy memories of his time spent at the clubs as a teenager. He joined the RAF in 1962 and on leaving after 24 years of service he joined an RBL club himself in Whitchurch. Three years ago, Chas obtained his motorcycle licence and is now a member of the RBL Riders Branch.

 

The Tamblins celebrate

The Legion holds three raffles each year, and they are an important part of our fundraising bringing in approximately £8 million each year which help support the Legion’s health & welfare services.

Legion staff and members can take part in the raffle, If you would like to enter the raffle then go to our raffle page now Poppy Raffle 

As Chas Tamblin said: “Everybody’s got a chance of winning - Look at me, I’ve never won anything before.”

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.

 

 

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

Bravo 22 Company

Like all jobs, even mine has its ups and downs but last night, was a definite up! I went to a Christmas dinner at London Zoo and met the most inspirational service lads and lassies who are part of Bravo 22 Company and will be performing on the West End stage!

They all have different backgrounds and come from different walks of life but they all have one thing in common; they have all been seriously wounded whilst serving in the Armed Forces. 

Some have lower limb trauma, some have lost one or two limbs, but all are breaking new ground to be part of this exciting project that has been put together by Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass Trust, The Royal British Legion and the Ministry of Defence.

Every now and then you meet someone or a group of people who really change the way you look at life, and that is what happened to me last night. We had such a great laugh with these guys and girls who have a wicked sense of humour!

We enjoyed Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, a visit from a buzzard and the karaoke machine certainly got a work out! Picture about 30 people, half in wheelchairs, crammed onto a tiny stage belting out Summer Nights at the top of their lungs! 

I can’t wait to see the final show which will be performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on Sunday 22 January 2012. I urge you all to get behind this great group of people and come and see the play!

The play even has the backing of many great celebs including Ray Winstone who described the Masterclass initiative as ‘amazing, stunning’.

It truly is a once in a lifetime event! Tickets are reasonably priced and can be bought from the Bravo 22 Company website.

The Poppy Appeal may be over for another year but there are still plenty of things going on at the Legion in the coming months for us to tell you about.

Two of the most exciting projects at the moment are the Military Wives Choir and Bravo 22 Company.

The YouTube videos below tell you all about both projects and the inspirational people they involve.

The Military Wives Choir - race for Christmas Number 1!

Bravo 22 Company - The Two Worlds of Charlie F

We have a very special offer for our Twitter and Facebook friends!

You can now purchase tickets to our spectacular Christmas Carol concert at the Guildhall, London for only £25, that’s a saving of £10 per ticket! The offer is valid for the Tuesday 13^th December concert and includes drinks beforehand!

Music and carol-singing on both nights will be led by the world-renowned Bach Choir and entertaining seasonal readings by our guest readers, including Charles Dance, Bernard Cribbins, Carol Vorderman and Brendan Coyle.   We will also be joined by classical group All Angels and musicians from the Legion’s own Central Band.

Alternatively, join us on Wednesday 14^th December for a delicious three course black-tie dinner with wine in the Old Library. Tickets for this option are £160 each and include the carol-singing concert and reception.  Tables of 8, 10 or 12 are available.

Please come and help us to celebrate a magnificent occasion particularly as the Legion’s 90^th anniversary year draws to its close!

For information and tickets please email rpride@britishlegion.org.uk or call 020 3207 2272

The wives with Chris Evans, Gareth Malone & Paul Mealor

The Military Wives Choir are the bookies’ favourite to take the crown from X Factor in the race to be the Christmas No.1 single! The odds are shortening every day for their song ‘Wherever You Are’ and they are now in with a real chance!

 The wives from RMB Chivenor & Plymouth have been the subject of a surprise campaign by BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans and today they travelled to London to thank Chris in person on behalf of the charities the single will support, The Royal British Legion and our good friends SSAFA.

 The song was written by Royal Wedding composer Paul Mealor and was compiled from letters between the servicemen and their wives on their 6-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. The raw emotion of the song has touched so many people and it most definitely brought a tear to my eye!

 The women are passionate about supporting their chosen charities and we are passionate about supporting them!

 The single is officially released on 19th December and available for pre-order from 5th December on Decca Records. 

 Let’s get them to Number 1 for Christmas!

 

Poppy

Morning everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed LegionLive’s Christmas gift guide last week. Today I wanted to tell you about the ever-popular annual Christmas Carol Concert, held in the spectacular setting of Guildhall in the City of London. The concert offers a wonderful start to the Christmas season with a perfect blend of carols, choirs and celebrities, and takes place over two evenings – Tuesday 13^th and Wednesday 14^th December.

Music and carol-singing on both nights will be led by the world-renowned Bach Choir, and there will be a number of seasonal readings by guest Charles Dance, Bernard Cribbins, Carol Vorderman and Brendan Coyle. The concert will also be joined by classical group All Angels and musicians from the The Royal British Legion’s own Central Band!

Concert tickets on both evenings are £35 each, and include drinks beforehand.

Alternatively, you can extend your enjoyment of the evening and join us for a delicious three course black-tie dinner with wine in the Old Library (on Wednesday 14^th only).   Tickets for this option are £160 each and include the concert and reception.  Tables of 8, 10 or 12 are available.

Please come and help us to celebrate a magnificent occasion, particularly as the Legion’s 90^th anniversary year draws to its close!

For more information or to secure your tickets, call Rebecca Pride on 020 3207 2272 or email her on rpride@britishlegion.org.uk

One for the footie fans this morning. Did you catch England’s surprise win over Spain on the 12^th November? A memorable night and no mistake!  Not only were there poppies all over the stadium, but fortunately on our players training shirts and armbands as well. The FA has kindly donated a number of these poppy branded pieces of kit to The Royal British Legion and they are now available to bid for on eBay.

So if you’re a football nut or know one (Christmas is coming!) you can pop over here and grab yourself an exclusive poppy-embroidered official England training top worn by one of the players. All money raised from this auction is going to The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal so that’s a win win if you ask me!

Good morning,

You may remember me mentioning our intrepid Antarctic explorers here recently. I’m pleased to announce they have set off and are currently on day 18; well on their way to the South Pole! The Amundsen team have already travelled a whopping 121.9 nautical miles (nmi) but still have a mammoth 547 nmi to go. The Scott team are currently out pacing them at 142.5 nmi but due to the longer route still have 607 nmi to cover.

Both teams have experienced the ups and downs of changeable Antarctic weather, enduring 50 mile an hour winds in freezing cold temperatures, brrr! Regardless, they have persevered, achieving an average of over 10 nautical miles a day, which considering the location and conditions is simply outstanding!

Each day the team sends through an audio report on their progress. These range from the surreal to the sublime as Henry bestows poignant quotes along with some humorous anecdotes on some of the morale boosting activity they are getting up to (I won’t spoil the surprise!) You can listen to the updates and track their progress on a live map here and don’t forget the reason for their trip, to raise money for our Service Personnel. If you would like to donate please visit their Just Giving page.