ABF: The Soldiers' Charity 2012-13 Impact Report

Supporting soldiers, former soldiers and their families in need, through individual grants and grants to other charities

Andy Garthwaite Andy joined the Army aged 16. After being deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, his life changed forever when he lost his arm in a RPG attack. Nearly three years on, it has been a long road to recovery for Andy, but he recently became one of only five people in the world to be fitted with a bionic arm powered by the brain.

The Soldiers’ Charity helped Andy with his rehabilitation. Amongst other things, we paid for adaptations to his bathroom so he could safely carry out his daily routines. Andy was recently medically discharged from the Army but is now able to ride his motorbike, drive a car, and last summer married his long-term partner Kailey.

We gave £5.28 million in grants to individuals in 2012-13 We have helped more than 300 serving and former soldiers with training and employment, so they can look forward to a brighter future.

A third of our grants were awarded to serving soldiers, reinforcing the close links we have with the Regiments and Corps.

This year, we gave a record number of individuals grants to help support their lifelong journey through illness, disability, injury or hardship.

Furnishings and equipment

(number of grants) 1,158

Support to wounded, injured and sick soldiers*

1,040

Hardship

809

General

661

Mobility

629

Funerals

389

Employment/training

312

Maintenance

259

Annuities

238

Care home fees

222

Miscellaneous

163

Holidays Home adaptations Bursaries

128 78

6,040 grants were made to individuals

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The Quick Reaction Fund is a rapid-response mechanism funded by Help 4 Heroes and administered by The Soldiers’ Charity, to help soldiers wounded in current operations. The Individual Recovery Plans are special plans for wounded, injured and sick soldiers to provide a smooth return to civilian life; things like careers advice or how to apply for a mortgage.

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Some of those we have helped in 2012-13

Kim Sweeney

Micky Yule

Ronald Watkins

Kim is the mother of Guardsman Michael Sweeney who was killed in Afghanistan, in April 2010 whilst serving with The Coldstream Guards.

We gave Kim’s husband, himself a former soldier, help to buy a specialised bed when his health began to deteriorate. A critical intervention for a family coping with loss.

Micky lost both legs in Afghanistan.

The Soldiers’ Charity provided weights and equipment so he could continue with his passion; powerlifting. Despite 39 operations, Micky competes at an international level, aspiring to a place in the Commonwealth Games and Paralympic Games.

Ronald, 87, lives in Barry, Wales.

He joined the South Wales Borderers in 1944, aged just 18. During the last winter we paid for Ronald, now a widower, to have his central heating repaired so he could stay warm.

Dignity restored to a proud, resilient soldier.

We have given more than £2.8 million to 80 other charities focusing on specific areas of support, like mental health, housing or veterans.

Over the last 12 months, our resulting help has touched the lives of more than 77,000 people.

Combat Stress

Veterans Aid

Royal Hospital Chelsea

£320,000

£78,000

£ as required

A significant number of veterans leave the Army with psychological wounds.

This can lead to depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Money from The Soldiers’ Charity funds a community outreach team, and clinical treatment for more than 4,000 veterans.

Providing homeless veterans with a long-term place to stay and a route out of hardship, substance misuse or social exclusion. We provide emergency grants where needed, as well as funding an outreach worker who helps between 10 and 15 veterans in crisis every day.

The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 British veterans who are unfit for further duty due to injury or old age. Money from The Soldiers’ Charity helps provide activities like short breaks and computing courses.

Some of the other charities we have helped in 2012-13 SSAFA

Army Widows’ Association

Royal Star and Garter Homes

We fund caseworkers on behalf of the Regiments and Corps, helping more than 24,000 former and serving members of the Armed Forces and their families annually, as well as funding other activities.

Formed in 2004 to offer comfort, friendship and support to the widows and widowers of service men and women. Our help with running costs means more than 200 widows, widowers and many more children are supported after their bereavement.

An independent charity providing specialist nursing and therapeutic care for disabled veterans. Thanks to The Soldiers’ Charity, the Homes have 83 long-stay residents, and 43 short-stay residents.

Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League

Providing housing assistance to ex-service people and/or their dependants and providing housing solutions for severely wounded and disabled service and ex-service men and women. Almost 900 have benefited from the work of Haig Homes after a grant from us.

The Poppy Factory Helping 466 ex-service men and women from the Armed Forces find jobs and employment in the United Kingdom.

Regular Forces Employment Association Our grant helped 3,500 Armed Forces leavers to find and remain in employment.

Bournemouth War Memorial Homes Providing homes for ex-service men and women at rents appropriate to individual circumstances.

Comprising 56 organisations in 48 Commonwealth countries, the League looks after the welfare of ex-service men and women of the Crown, resident overseas. The Soldiers’ Charity helps provide the equivalent of a meal a day for more than 11,000 veterans.

Erskine Hospital 226 elderly veterans and 42 dependants have nursing care paid for in part by our grant.

Haig Homes

Royal Cambridge Home A care home for the widows and female dependants of those who have served in the Armed Forces. Last year, we provided money for entertainment, new furniture and fire safety equipment.

ABF The Soldiers’ Charity: The Army’s ‘Enabling’ charity

Underpinning the Army Recovery Capability

Established and influential

A senior member of staff embedded within Army HQ to facilitate the most effective provision of support to the Wounded, Injured and Sick.

Making the best of Army and charity-sector resources.

Bringing 70 years of experience to bear on policy issues.

Saving money through effective solutions

Up to £1 million a year spent on the provision of Specialist Employment Consultants in each Recovery Unit – to facilitate the provision of jobs to those in greatest need.

Sharing our offices with 7 other military charities – cutting overheads and producing co-ordinated solutions for those in need.

Connected with other charities

Connected to the Army

Sitting on other charity boards to encourage co-ordination and coherence.

Providing guidance on best practice and benevolence to the Army (through Regiments and Corps).

Administration of Funds

A meaningful partnership

Grant-making on behalf of other major military charities – including Help for Heroes – to get the money where it is needed quickly. Co-ordination not duplication.

Acting with the Naval and Air Force charities to deliver a co-ordinated response and share best practice.

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One of our grants helped a serving Sergeant in the Royal Signals buy a specialist cot, wheelchair and speech therapy lessons for his severely disabled baby son.

Young Children A single father in the Royal Logistics Corps was diagnosed with a terminal illness. His little girl found his diagnosis hard to deal with; our funding paid for art therapy and a respite holiday to help her cope at this tragic time.

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The Charity’s Vision: “To be the most effective charity providing a lifetime of support for soldiers, former soldiers and their families” Our Values: Our values reflect those of the Army and its people we support: ◆

Integrity

The Soldiers’ Charity is part of the Army’s and Nation’s fabric, we must act accordingly.

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Respect

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Commitment

We respect every individual and their needs.

We must be approachable, effective and quick to respond.

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Loyalty

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Courage

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We have a sense of loyalty to the Army as an institution, its people and those who support us.

Inspiration We create opportunities and inspire others, with the emphasis on a ‘hand-up’ not a ‘hand-out’.

We act on behalf of our beneficiaries without fear or favour, telling it as it is.

Working with the Army

Skillforce is a national charity which helps inspire young people to succeed in life. Our support meant that 70 ex-military personnel retrained to become mentors in the last year.

Our Specialist Employment Consultants helped almost 400 of the most seriously wounded injured and sick, providing employment advice, work experience and job search assistance, to help soldiers make a successful transition to civilian life.

Teens

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An Army widow could not continue to pay the fees for her daughter to finish a training course after her husband’s death. We stepped in to cover these costs and help the daughter complete her degree; she is now a qualified nurse.

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A young former soldier was helped back on his feet after finding himself homeless in London.

Because of our help he’s moved into a dedicated hostel for veterans and undertaken a course to become a personal trainer.

30s A serving Corporal was given a specialist wheelchair which meant he could continue his active lifestyle after being wounded in Afghanistan.

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Messages from our President and Chief Executive Whatever the uncertainties in the world, we need to remain solid in our support of the soldiers and veterans who need our help. Memories of Iraq and Afghanistan will inevitably fade, but not for those casualties and their families who will suffer the impact for many years hence. Redundancies in the Army also mean we are seeing increased demand for employment and training support for those in particular difficulty. Whilst the Army is going through a period of great change we remain a constant. We make assessments based on genuine need - and where that exists there should be no delays and no red tape.

As we look ahead to our 70th anniversary in 2014, we must continue to fulfil our original aims, set out in 1944 and still relevant today; to meet the demand to the utmost extent our funds will provide.

General (Ret’d) Sir Mike Jackson President – ABF The Soldiers’ Charity

The year has been both challenging and fulfilling. We have seen yet another significant increase in the number of individual cases, which continue to grow in complexity and often cost.

The figures tell only part of the story: as a long-established Charity, much of our effort is focused on the wider provision of advice and co-ordination with other charities, and on shaping emerging policy and practice in partnership with the Army.

We must continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Regiments and Corps and their people, to make effective use of the available resources in the year ahead.

Major General (Ret’d) Martin Rutledge Chief Executive – ABF The Soldiers’ Charity

“The last twelve months have been a time of enormous change and I’m now discharged from the Army.

But The Soldiers’ Charity has been there and has done so much for me with their various grants and funding; they have helped me to live and carry out the most basic day to day tasks. They’re so trusted and are here for the long haul. To me, and so many, it’s a lifeline”.

Craig Paterson, formerly of 4 SCOTS

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A retired Warrant Officer who saw service in Northern Ireland, The Falklands, Bosnia and Iraq was given charity funding to help complete a civilian engineering course after struggling with travel and tuition costs.

50s

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A hard-working former Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer fell on hard times when his son died from meningitis. Despite their own financial problems, they find the time to fundraise for their local air ambulance. We gave a grant to cover utility bills so they could get back on their feet.

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70

Following a medical operation, a blind veteran in Edinburgh retained mobility and independence when we granted money to cover his home adaptations. They faced hardship when this veteran’s wife had to reduce her working hours to look after him.

Fundraising - with your help, we have made a difference in so many ways

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1. Our fundraising is helped by high-profile figures like JK Rowling, who has pledged royalties from her book,

The Cuckoo’s Calling.

2. Red, White and Blue Day 2012 raised over £30,000, enough to pay for 40 Family Activity Breaks for bereaved children.

3. Cateran Yomp raised £342,000, enough to fund our grant to elderly veterans in the Erskine Home for at least two years.

4. Caden Done raised £500, running the Great North Mini Marathon, enough to fund the administration costs for 50 soldiers to record a bedtime story for their children with Storybook Soldiers.

5. Last year The Soldiers’ Charity raised just under £1.7 million via regular gifts, cash donations and Gift Aid from our generous supporters. Enough to pay for more than half of the grants we made last year to charitable organisations.

6. The Lord Mayor’s Big Curry raised £147,000, equal to three years’ support for the Current Operations Fund, helping more than 100 individuals last year.

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A Gurkha veteran and his wife, who were living without a service pension after his redundancy, were given charity help to buy furniture for their empty flat and to meet living expenses.

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An elderly Army widow who had significant mobility issues was able to stay in her own home after an urgent grant was made for the installation of a stair lift.

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A World War II Royal Artillery veteran and his wife who have been married for 61 years had to move to a care home after their daughter-inlaw died. We met the shortfall in the costs of the care home fees for this couple.

The year in numbers 19 countries where we have helped soldiers and their families

107 the age of our oldest beneficiary

434 miles run by two female soldiers in fundraising event The Afghan Memorial Run

931 the height in metres of Skiddaw, which LCpl Mark Harding scaled for us, raising £6K. Mark was initially

The future landscape

paralysed from the neck down after a sniper attack while serving in

We don’t know what lies ahead. In 1944, our aim was to provide help to those in need, and that continues today. With our troops returning from Afghanistan in 2014, we can expect demand to grow. Redundancies affecting thousands mean our work on the transition to civilian life will increase.

Afghanistan with 1st Battalion, The Duke of

Like the British Army, we need to be prepared for whatever might be around the corner.

We receive no Government money, we rely solely on donations to continue our work.

Lancaster’s Regiment

58,000 people currently involved in our Facebook community

“Our grants target those in greatest need. As a result our help can really change lives. We can enable a family to stay together; an infirm veteran to remain at home rather than having to go into a care home; a homeless veteran secure a roof over their head; or a soldier leaving the Army to receive the training and education they need to start a new life.”

Col Paul Cummings – Head of Welfare

Whatever the future holds, we need your help to continue to make a difference to soldiers and their families. Text ARMY5 to 70004 now to donate just £3* * Text costs your donation amount plus network charge. ABF The Soldiers’ Charity receives 100% of your donation.

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This document is drawn from the information held in our Annual Report 2012-2013. Copies are available on request. ABF The Soldiers’ Charity is a registered charity in England and Wales (1146420) and Scotland (039189). Registered as a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales (07974609). Registered Office: Mountbarrow House, 6-20 Elizabeth Street, London SW1W 9RB