Hampshire ABF Secretary

The Hampshire Branch of the Army Benevolent Fund is urgently looking for a new Secretary. The duties are not ligt, take the minutes of 4 meetings a year and support the Chairman. If anyone has the time to spare and is willing to undertake the task please contact Col Cathy Kitchener on 0792760636.

Operational Welfare Fund

SSAFA with the MOD has set up an Operational Welfare fund. So instead of sending unsolicited parcels to troops on Operations, which puts a strain on Forces Postal Service, members of the public are asked to this fund instead. CO's can then be given access to the funds to purchase welfare items actually needed. Click the link to read more and donate.

Where the grants go

Before the Current Operations Fund was launched, the ABF had already committed over £250,000 in grants to returning soldiers and their families. Grants cover everything from retraining a disabled soldier for a new career to a much needed holiday for a war widow and her young children.

Rising numbers of cases

Cases are expected to snowball in the coming years, as casualties from ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan increase. It frequently takes two or three years before cases are referred to the Army Benevolent Fund and in 2007 the ABF saw a significant rise in appeals for help from recent veterans of the two conflicts. The Current Operations Fund will be available to support soldiers injured during any future theatre of operation, irrespective of their location.

Donations

Donate to the Current Operations Fund through our secure donation facility.

In December 2007 the ABF received a generous SuperGrant from the Army Central Fund, in recognition of their very close links to the ABF, and to benefit those sadly affected by the high tempo of current operations...

However, dependent on voluntary donations, the Fund must currently raise around £7 million each year to continue its vital work with members of the Army Family. With an exponential growth in cases expected, the need for public support is greater than ever.

I am about to demonstrate that I am completely and utterly mad by doing the Everest Marathon! We leave Kathmandu on 19 Nov and trek from Lukla for almost 2 weeks to the start line which is at 5184m and just below Everest Base Camp. On 4 Dec we then run down (sadly with quite a bit of up) to Namche Bazaar which is at 3446m. I am doing it for the challenge but also to raise money for The Everest Marathon Fund which provides funding for development projects in Nepal. When you consider that Nepal does not have mains water in many places including Kathmandu, and has a very erratic electricity supply even the basic infrastructure requires developing.

I am taking part with 5 other members of British Gurkhas Nepal (we are a team of 3 Brits and 3 Gurkhas) and this is without a doubt going to be the biggest challenge in my life – not too worried about the distance and my legs – it is the lack of oxygen at 5000m that concerns me!

If you would like to sponsor me I would be very grateful, and you can do this via Just Giving

Thank you for your support – whether it is in your prayers/thoughts or cash! Please pass on to anyone you think may like to support me.

Awardmedals.com now supply Dark Green Berets in various sizes cost £14.95. They also supply WRAC capbadges at £8.95. As well as various other items that you might like to purchase.

Do you have a Facebook account? Do you know how to set your privacy setting? Download the attached file to find out.

www.zazzle.co.uk/wracwebby, all the prices and postage in this store are in pounds. Orders take about 14 days to arrive as they come from the USA.

www.cafepress.co.uk/wrac, prices are in pounds but the postage is in dollars. Again all items can take up to 14 days to arrive and you might get charged customs duty. More items are available in this store.

At the R Signals Museum Blandford, telling the story of the role women played in the military during the war, particularly the members of the FANY and SOE.

The TACA, which was launched online on 1 Oct 2007, was established by Clare Gibson, a writer and researcher, history graduate and one-time army child, to collect, record and preserve details of the unique aspects of growing up as a child of a soldier serving in the 19th, 20th or 21 century. If you were an army child visit www.archhistory.co.uk and share your memories.

The new Association webstore is located at www.buy.at/wrac. If you shop using popular stores such as Amazon, Play, John Lewis then link through using the webstore and you could earn commission for the Association. It costs you nothing. Visit the store lots of links to choose.

Write to: Graham Taylor, Veterans Badge Offer, Room 6108 Tomlinson House, Norcross, Blackpool, FY5 3WP.

News, Military Events and information