Wounded soldiers appeal started

[Kyt]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7021493.stm

An £8m appeal has been launched to improve facilities for the growing number of wounded UK service personnel.

A "non-political" charity, Help for Heroes, wants to build a gym and full-sized pool at Headley Court rehabilitation centre in Surrey.

It is the idea of cartoonist Bryn Parry who served in The Royal Green Jackets.

He said he had been "profoundly humbled" meeting soldiers and staff at Selly Oak hospital, Birmingham, the first stop for injured service people.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, is a trustee for the appeal and said there was an increased need for public support to improve facilities.

"As our operational commitments have become more intense, so the need for support from the nation has grown," he said.

"Help for Heroes gives the public a practical way to demonstrate their support for those serving our country."

The charity's first planned fund-raising event, a 320-mile bike ride through World War I and World War II battlefields in France, is scheduled to take place in May next year.

Mr Parry said: "I just feel we ought to be showing we care and appreciate these brave young men.

"We owe a debt to these people and we need to ensure that if they are injured then they get the very best of care to help them overcome any disability."

A new 30-bed ward has been added to the existing 170 beds at Headley Court in July to cope with the growing numbers of forces personnel injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In August, plans to turn a £1.7m house in nearby Ashtead into a "home from home" for families of injured service personnel were approved by the local council.

Sue Freeth, the Royal British Legion's director of welfare, said improvements to rehabilitation facilities were "urgently needed".

But she added that the new charity raised questions over the government's approach to caring for the wounded.

"We would question why this needs to be delivered through the charitable sector rather than it being a top funding priority for the government."

Defence minister Derek Twigg said the government had invested heavily to make Headley Court a "world-class" facility.

"The offer of extra funding from Help for Heroes is very welcome," he said.

"It will allow us to further improve the quality of life of patients at Headley Court."

http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/

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[morse1001]

When I came back from the Lebanon in 1983, I was put into the hospital at RAf Wroughton and then sent for rehab to just outside London. I was out of action for four months and did not receive any outside help.

[Kyt]

It is remarkable how little is done for service personnel when they are injured. This has been going on since WW2 and before, and yet, everytime it appears in the news the general public are surprised!

[morse1001]

Originally Posted by Kyt

It is remarkable how little is done for service personnel when they are injured. This has been going on since WW2 and before, and yet, everytime it appears in the news the general public are surprised!

I think it was because we had some extent become used to hearing about wounded personnel coming back.

I spent time with a lot a chaps who had been wounded in Ireland. They too received treatment in a military hospital and then returned to their units.

No one in particular gave us a second glance as we hobbled or wheeled our way to the pub! Or when we staggered back!

We did receive sort of welfare visits from the WRVS and the Buffs, I later joined the Buffs after I left the mob.

[Kyt]

BBC NEWS | UK | £1m raised for injured military

Some 300 cyclists have completed a 350-mile fundraising ride from the battlefields of northern France to the Cenotaph in central London.

They raised over £1m for Headley Court, the armed forces rehabilitation centre.

Among those taking part were servicemen who have lost limbs and suffered brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One participant in the five-day tour, Capt Martin Hewitt of the Parachute Regiment, said: "The muscles are sore, but that's what it's all about."

Improve facilities

At the Cenotaph, the veterans laid wreaths for their fallen comrades and stood to attention for the last post.

All funds raised from the trip will go to Headley Court in Surrey, which cares for those injured in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The centre, near Leatherhead in Surrey, has 66 "complex trauma" beds and looks after 180 patients.

According the Ministry of Defence, 667 service personnel were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan during the previous two years.

The MoD says that in May 2008 it pledged an extra £24m to improve facilities over the next four years.

[morse1001]

Originally Posted by Kyt

BBC NEWS | UK | £1m raised for injured military

I support the fund raising for the wounded by am disgusted by the penny pinching attitiude of the government. I suspect that they are trying to prove that the NHS can cope with all the wounded. the sad fact is that they would be better off in a military hospital surrounded with people who are service personnel and who can sympathise with what thwe wounded have gove through and can understand thier experiences.

[Antipodean Andy]

Very good point, Morse.