care for casualties
DESCRIPTION
The magazine for friends and supporters of The Rifles charityTRANSCRIPT
www.careforcasualties.org.ukIssue 1 Summer 2012
Celebrating Achievement Through Adversity
Rifleman Jake Bartlett p6
Rifleman Dan Shaw p8
Fundraising stories p4 & 5
OveR
£2mRaISeD SO FaR!
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2 CARE FOR CASUALTIES
ABOUT THE APPEAL
Rebecca Maciejewska Lt Col (retd) Mike Smith MBE
Fundraising Coordinator Regimental Casualty Officer
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Others with no formal connection with The Rifles have been incredibly supportive, having been inspired by the
stories they have heard. Thanks to this we are now able to make a real difference to the quality of life of those members of our Regimental family who have sacrificed so much.
The Appeal has been set up with the intention of ensuring that we, as a Regiment, can support our casualties from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts with the care they need both now and for the rest of their lives, whenever they should need it. The term “casualty” embraces the wounded, their families and the families of our Fallen. It relies on the generosity and thought of all of our regimental family. We at Regimental Headquarters and in the Battalions do all we can to help, but if you know of someone who is feeling forgotten or is in need, please let our Regimental Casualty Officer, Lt Col (retd) Mike Smith ([email protected]) know.
With over 60 Killed in Action and more than 30 who have lost limbs, and a further 300 having suffered from other serious injury, immediate needs are very obvious. However, the intention of C4C is to ensure that we will have the funds available to assist with the enduring needs of our casualties. Our wounded are generally between the ages of 18 and 26 at the time of injury and therefore have many years of life ahead of them. They need to know that there is support available at every stage and whilst a huge amount of money has been raised, we are currently spending it at a rate of over £100,000 per year. Much more is needed if we are to achieve our goal of knowing that we will be able to honour our enduring commitment to all members of our regimental family who have been affected by the service The Rifles have given in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This first edition of The Care for Casualties Newsletter is a celebration of achievement through adversity. It tells the stories of some of our casualties and of our fundraising. Swift and Bold truly has been the theme of the first two years of this appeal.
Thank you all!
Welcome
The Rifles’ Care for Casualties appeal has been up and running for just over two years and the response has been extraordinary. Funds raised have exceeded £2,000,000 and members of the regimental family have come together from the past and present to achieve this incredible sum.
Our SupportersThe Rifles have been supported by many other charities and organisations, some of whom are mentioned below. We are grateful to all these organisations and individuals who assist us in caring for our casualties.
If we have forgotten to mention you, please give us a kick and we will be pleased to acknowledge you in the next edition.
The Milton Keynes half-marathon. Both Jackie Kellett, mother of a Rifleman serving in Afghanistan at the time, and CApTAin Bill HollAnd who is himself serving and likes to run with a fridge strapped to his back, took part.
3 Rifles at the Marine Corps marathon. This was the second year that 3 Rifles crossed the Atlantic to take part and the team consisted of able bodied Riflemen as well as those who had been seriously injured whilst serving on operations.
SOme OF OuR FunDRaISIng aChIevemenTS. mORe STORIeS Can Be FOunD On pageS 4 anD 5.
Team Green, comprised of friends and family of Cpl RiCHARd GReen have been consistently fund raising for Care for Casualties.
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CARE FOR CASUALTIES 3
ACHIEvEMENT THROUgH AdvERSITy
Stephan and Sadie van niekerk
COveR STORY
On October 22nd 2009 Lance Corporal
Stephan van niekerk’s life was changed forever when he stood on an IEd during an Operation in the Sangin area of Helmand Province, Afghanistan whilst serving with A Company, 3 Rifles. His injuries which included the loss of one leg above the knee and the other below the knee, the loss of one side of his right hand and the partial loss of four fingers were immediately life threatening and if that was not enough he contracted severe pneumonia between the point of injury and arriving at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.
However Stephan is a resilient young man and supported by his wife Sadie he has made an incredible recovery and is now preparing
for life outside the Army.Care for Casualties has
helped fund the purchase of a quad bike which has given him considerable independence, allowing him to walk his dogs and help Sadie look after her two horses. In addition charitable funding from C4C and SportTech PLC enabled Stephan and a number of other severely injured Riflemen to travel to Breckenridge, Colorado to ski with wounded US veterans from their Wounded Warrior Programme.
However both Stephan and Sadie would acknowledge that life has not been easy with Sadie having to cope with both an injured husband and a baby, adaptations to their house and the uncertainty of what the future might hold. Sadie, who is training to become a Nurse, spoke eloquently at the ABF – The Soldier’s Charity welfare conference on the impact
Stephan’s injuries was having on her career and life in general. However helped by funds from C4C Sadie was able to take a short respite break in London and this Summer will graduate as a fully qualified Nurse.
In addition she has become a prolific fund raiser organising a charity horse ride as well as arranging for collecting tins to be left in local shops.
Row to Recovery
lT Will dixon and Rfn CARl AnsTey achieved the impossible! With two other seriously wounded and two able bodied soldiers they rowed the Atlantic with the charity Row to Recovery as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Despite running out of drinking water and damaging their rudder the team kept going and crossed from the Azores to Barbados in an incredible 51 days.
Skiing in Colorado with BLESMA and the Wounded Warrior Programme.
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Rifleman Sam parker 4 Rifles takes the helm
A number of our injured Riflemen have enjoyed sailing with the Jubilee Sailing Trust on their fully accessible tall ships and we are currently looking for volunteers to join the Lord Nelson on its round the world voyage next year.
Birthday Surprise
Rfn deAn WilliAMs 2 Rifles celebrated his 21st Birthday at Tedworth House, the newly Personnel Recovery and Assessment Centre, with a visit from the Band and Bugles. They played an impromptu concert in front of the house and Dean was presented with a birthday cake made by the chefs from Blue Apple. Dean is currently attending a course at Lackham College funded by Care for Casualties.
mORe STORIeS OF COuRage
Care for Casualties
derives enormous
support from our
bereaved families
some of whom are our
most successful fund
raisers. in return C4C
has funded counselling
for parents and siblings,
provided respite
holidays for families and
organised transport to
commemorative events.
a SpeCIaL Thank YOu:
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4 CARE FOR CASUALTIES
FUNdRAISINg STORIES
Riflemen have volunteered, risking their lives on behalf of others; we need to do all we can to support them and show our appreciation for their courage and sacrifice.
veterans serve Riflemen of Today
Becca maciejewska, our Fundraising Coordinator writes:
The scope and number of fundraising activities undertaken over the past 2 years
has been quite unbelievable. Together we have raised over £2 million but Care for
Casualties has done more than that.
It has brought people together from across the spectrum in the name of The Rifles
and in support of our wonderfully courageous casualties. veterans, Regimental
Associations from all our antecedent Regiments, families of our Fallen, sons and
daughters, wives, mothers, fathers and friends have all played their part, as have our
wider communities, the Mayors and Mayoresses, Boroughs, Cities and Counties, ACFs
and CCFs and also some incredibly kind hearted people who have no connection at all
with The Rifles other than that they have heard our story and want to do all they can to
help. Thank you all!
Spread across these two pages are some photos illustrating the range and diversity
of fundraising activities. They just give an idea of what has been going on. We must
keep at it! The need remains and so we need to keep going!
pHil WARdle, an ex-Gloster, at everest Base Camp.
Coco, sJT pAul CoCoRAn, veteran light infantryman, has done many crazy things in support of Care for Casualties; extreme ironing in a sea King helicopter, walking Hadrian’s Wall with a sink on his back and carrying an ironing board as he walked across Britain from coast to coast in his pyjamas.
BoB McHenRy, who served with The 60th Rifles, can be seen fundraising in and around Colchester most weekends.
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sid KeyTe, ex-Rifles, impersonates susan Boyle.
The devon and dorset Association and local cadets joined forces to make the open day at Highwood Gardens a huge success.
Raised£42,000
£2m raised – half way to our target of £4m. Thank you.
Guy HARRis, former Green Jacket competed in the dutch powerman.
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CARE FOR CASUALTIES 5
This photo shows Team swift and Bold, made up of friends and family of Josh Bowman. see our website for more information about their incredible “Race Across America”.
Race across america
FUNdRAISINg STORIES
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Bob and deb simpson, parents of Rfn dAn siMpson, have made and sold Christmas wreaths.
A Charity Ball organised by the mums of injured Riflemen.
Anna Rainbow in the south downs Relay.
We have had generous support from many Masonic lodges.
Rifles’ mums’ challenge.
Chepstow Race day.
It’s not just the Riflemen who serve, it’s their families too and we owe it to them to look after them all.The Rifles are not
only looking after our
bereaved families, we
are being cared for by
them as well. These are
remarkable people whose
generosity of spirit is to
be celebrated. ever since
the appeal began, family
members of those heroic
Riflemen who lost their
lives in afghanistan and
Iraq have been in touch,
offering their support
and fundraising to help
the friends of their son,
brother, husband, father.
For more information about these and other stories...
Please visit: www.careforcasualties.org.uk or email us on [email protected]
DIaRYSome of the events taking place around the country. See our website for more...
also...
MARCH
2012
Our Christmas Cards will be avaialble from October. Our website will announce the details.
5th augustCharity football match in memory of Cpl mark palin
18th augustLanzarote Fun Day for heroes 2012
1st Septemberherefordshire gala evening and Sounding Retreat
16th Septembergreat north RunEmma Humphreys will be supporting Care for Casualties again as she takes part in The Great North Run. Please support her in this tough endeavour: http://www.justgiving.com/Emma-Humphreys0
13th OctoberThe second aitch group Charity Ball in aid of Care for Casualties and Warrior programme
Raised£90,000
The Aitch Group.
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6 CARE FOR CASUALTIES
HOW WE SPENd THE MONEy
The Regimental Casualty Officer, Lt Col (Retd)
mike Smith writes:
The money raised by the Care for Casualties appeal allows the
Regiment to provide immediate support to its wounded, their
families and the families of our fallen Riflemen. Each year we are
spending almost £120,000 on education courses, car and house
adaptations, fitness equipment including hand bikes and gym
equipment and funeral expenses not covered by the MOd. We
have paid for bereavement and marriage guidance counselling,
mental health courses, respite holidays and travel expenses often
working in tandem with other Service charities.
A major part of what we do is to fund adventure training
opportunities provided by charities such as the Jubilee Sailing
Trust and BLESMA which play a very important part in the
rehabilitation process. The list is endless but our aim is react to a
need as quickly as possible with the minimum of bureaucracy.
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RIFLeman pauL JaCOBS who was awarded the george
Medal whilst serving with 2 Rifles has undertaken a number of
challenges on behalf of C4C and other Service charities.
Paul who was blinded has climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and here is
preparing to cycle with his brother Joe on the back of a tandem from
Edinburgh to London for SSAFA.
He was accompanied by RIFLeman mIChaeL SWaIn from
3 Rifles on bicycles funded by Care for Casualties.
C4C funded an
adapted bike
for Lucy whose father
was killed on operations
in Afghanistan whilst
serving with 1 Rifles.
Lucy suffers from
Cerebral Palsy and
so C4C stepped in to
help and also funded
swimming and riding
lessons which had been
recommended by her
therapist.
DavID haRT from 6 Rifles
was injured whilst serving on
operations in Iraq. C4C has funded
david through his Post graduate
Certificate in Education at Exeter
University from where he will graduate
this July. We wish him every success
in his new career as a teacher.
LCpL TYLeR ChRISTOpheR faces the camera.
Thanks to the generosity of donald Bousted and his
team at BestBitsMedia Ltd a series of videos were made
explaining the work of Care for Casualties through the eyes of
some of our bereaved parents and injured Riflemen. Edward
Watson, himself a former Riflemen, was responsible for
realising the project and directing the videos which can be
viewed on our web site www.careforcasualties.org.
RIFLeman Jake BaRTLeTT
has not only learnt to ski since
he lost a leg serving with 3 Rifles but
also went skydiving with the charity
Pilgrim’s Bandits in dubai.
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CARE FOR CASUALTIES 7
HOW WE SPENd THE MONEy
“The Care for Casualties pack
was great, everything in the bag
was useful, especially the clothing and sportswear.
The pack was not only valuable for helping me through my time in the
hospital but also essential for headley Court and for promoting the Regiment
throughout my recovery”.
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Former Rfn, BILLY hugheS,
cycled 762 miles in 7 days, visiting
along the way LCpL maRTIn eDWaRDS,
a casualty from Iraq, who is resident in the
daniel yorath Brain Rehabilitation Centre in
Leeds. Martin recently enjoyed a two day
respite break with his carers funded by
C4C, his first holiday in over four years.
Billy started his ride in Poole going north
as far as Carlisle, then via Newcastle,
ending his journey at Peninsula Barracks,
Winchester. Here pictured at the Keep,
dorchester.
RIFLeman ChRIS gWILT stands on the side of Mt
Manaslu, the 8th highest mountain in the world as he
prepared to support the charity Walking with the Wounded
in their bid to climb Mt Everest. Chris was a Territorial Army
Rifleman who was badly injured on operations and C4C has
helped fund education courses for him in preparation for life
outside the Army.
L to R, LCpL RICkY
haTTOn, RIFLeman
aLex SWInhOe and
RIFLeman maTT FISheR
recovering from their injuries
at the defence Medical
Rehabilitation Centre,
Headley Court.
They are wearing items from
the welfare packs which are
given to all our injured Rifleman
on their return to the UK.
RIFLeman
ChRIS paRkeS
has not let serious injury
deter him from pushing
himself to the limit. Chris
from 3 Rifles lost a leg
whilst serving in
Afghanistan but recently
joined an expedition to
climb Mt Kilimanjaro and
has also learnt to ski and
completed a tandem
parachute jump.
SJT maRk hOLLOWaY
of 5 Rifles who suffered
severe injury to his right arm is
pictured getting back to full fitness
on a bike funded by the charity
Just Rifles.
C4C has helped fund Mark
on a Military Mentors course run
by SkillForce which is part of his
Individual Recovery Plan after
which he will rejoin his Battalion.
DavID TImmS was badly
injured when the Band of
the 1st Battalion The Royal green
Jackets was blown up in Regents
Park on 20th July 1982 killing 7 of its
members. 30 years after the event
Care for Casualties has helped david
purchase a new motability vehicle.
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8 CARE FOR CASUALTIES
Send a chequeMake it payable to: “The Rifles Regimental Trust (Care For Casualties)”. visit our website to download and complete a gift Aid Form so we can recover the taxable element.
Set up a Standing Ordervisit our website to download a form.
By FundraisingOrganise your own challenge. e.g. a bike ride, a skydive or participate in an event, such as The London Marathon, and get sponsorship.
hold an eventBecome a Promoter.
Become a Corporate SponsorIf you run a company and would like to explore how you can support the work of The Rifles Charities please contact us at [email protected]
Offers of Support in kindHolidays, accommodation, work experience and training. If you or your organisation can offer facilities and opportunities which will help the rehabilitation of our wounded please contact us at [email protected]
Donate something we can sell by auctionIf you have something of value be it an item, an experience, tickets, or something money can’t normally buy, we would love to hear from you.
Care for Casualties is printed by The greentree Press on Evolution 100 Silk, made from FSC certified 100% recycled post consumer waste. design: www.nexus-design.co.uk.
RIFLES CASUALTy CAPABILITy
Rifleman Dan Shaw takes to the West end stage
Rifleman Dan Shaw was seriously wounded whilst serving with 4 Rifles in
Afghanistan in 2009 losing both legs and therefore the idea that two years later he would appear on stage in the West End was inconceivable.
However thanks to an innovative theatre project supported by such luminaries as Sir Trevor Nunn and Ray Winstone the Bravo 22 Company put on a play entitled The Two Worlds of Charlie F at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in the heart of London’s theatre land in which dan had a leading role.
The play was written by Owen Sheers who spent months interviewing wounded Servicemen and Women whilst they were going through their rehabilitation and tells their story as they recover from their physical and psychological wounds.
The play was put together by the Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass Trust in partnership with the Royal British Legion and the Army Recovery Capability and such were the rave reviews that the play is going on tour around the country, and will feature in the Edinburgh Festival.
Follow us on Twitter
Join our Facebook
HOW TO SUPPORT US KEEP IN TOUCH
And for all the most up-to-date news on our fundraising activities, please visit:www.careforcasualties.org.uk
Care for CasualtiesRHQ The RiflesPeninsula Barracks Romsey RoadWinchesterSO23 8TS01962 [email protected]
Registered Charity No. 1119061
MARCH 2012
MARCH 2012
Photo by kind permission of The Royal British Legion
Photo by kind permission of Helen Murray Photo by kind permission of The Royal British Legion
Rifleman Dan Shaw (front centre) and the cast of The Two Worlds of Charlie F
Mr Ray Winstone and Rifleman Dan Shaw
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