Regularly updated with all the latest news and information

For Forthcoming Events Please Click Here

NEWS

July 2010

The Camping & Caravanning Club Site, Kingsbury Water Park

Many thanks to Mr & Mrs Thompson of the Camping & Caravanning Site, Kingsbury Water Park who organised a fundraising day on the 26th June and raised the grand total of £56.60 for SOS.  Thank you to everyone who went along on the day and contributed so generously.

21st July - Buttercross Needleworkers, Tickhill

Report from Tracy, Rotherham A/C - 'BUTTERCROSS NEEDLEWORKERS held a Support Our Soldiers Sewing Evening on Wednesday 21st July at the Tickhill Scout & Guide Hall.  Thanks to the Rotherham Advertiser Cool Ties Appeal, Shirley Clapham & the ladies of Tickhill held a marathon session making several hundred ties for our brave soldiers on overseas operations.   I gave an Awareness talk about Support Our Soldiers, giving the ladies more insight to what the Yorkshire based charity is all about.   It was a real pleasure to meet all the ladies and thank them personally for their support.   Many of the Cool ties are already on their way to Afghanistan which should help our brave military in the summer heat.'

17th July - Birkdale Festival

Many thanks to Stephen & Tina - Southport S.O.S  who attended the Birkdale Festival on the 17th July and raised £239.41.  They would like to extend their thanks to everyone who donated so generously, to the Health Food shop for donating samples for the parcels, to Schunanigans for providing shoe boxes and to Match of the Day analyst Mark Lawrenson who joined them on the stall and offered his assistance in the future.

14th July - Sutton Police Cadets Cheque Presentation

Many thanks to members of Sutton Police Cadets who very kindly presented a cheque for £125 to SOS at their 5th Annual Review.  The money was raised through a recent rowing event and cake sale. 

Sutton police cadets parade
Your Local Guardian
... a charity providing morale boosting care parcels to Support our Soldiers overseas, after they raised money at a rowing event and cake sale. ...

11th July  - Witham Scooter and Bike Ride

Our thanks to Witham's Victorians Scooter Club and Motorcycle Division who held a ride out between Witham and Colchester in honour of East Anglian Regiments and raised over £2,000 for Forces Charities including SOS -

Scooter and bike ride raises more than £2000
Braintree and Witham Times
Fighting men and women known to Help the Heroes, Support our Soldiers and the Royal British Legion will all benefit from the event, which started at the ...

Coffee Day Celebrations

On 3 July 2010 Craig Howard, Head of Commercial – Support Services at Enterprise who is part of the ‘Croston Reformed Scout Band’ took part in ‘Coffee Day Celebrations’, an annual procession through the village of Croston, Lancashire.

Each year they choose a charity to raise money for and this year they chose to support SOS. Together they raised a fantastic £360.  A wonderful amount and our thanks go out to Craig and everyone who took part.

June 2010

Ysgol y Gwendraeth Welsh Baccalaureate – Community Participation

Our sincere thanks to staff and pupils at Ysgol y Gwendraeth, Llanelli who very kindly chose to support SOS as part of their community participation.  This is the report from form tutor Karen MacDonald and many thanks to her for all her efforts -  

'After a viewing a moving power point presentation about our soldiers at war during an assembly, 10W decided they wanted to support the soldiers in any way they could. As part of their Welsh Baccalaureate qualification, they need to participate in 15 hours of community work. The pupils decided to put their energy into planning and organising a fund raising campaign to raise money for ‘Support our Soldiers’. Alongside this, they wanted to make handmade cards, and collect shoeboxes full of supplies to send to the soldiers. They also collected used stamps for the appeal.

The fund raising activities included selling cakes, toast and handmade bracelets, holding a ‘Guess the teddy’s name’ competition and ‘Guess the baby’ competition. They also washed staff cars. Some of the pupils visited local shops asking if they would like to donate to this good cause and all were happy to help.

Our school is a small community school with 400 pupils. We are down to approximately 320 pupils at the moment as year 11 have just left after sitting their exams. The response we had was amazing! We managed to raise approximately 200 pounds in just 3 days. 100 pounds of this money is being donated to the Welsh Guards ‘Arm and a Leg’ appeal and 100 pounds to SOS.

We managed to make about 30 handmade cards, collected used stamps and collected items to make 40 shoeboxes for the shoe box appeal.

We are honoured to have been associated with your appeal and appreciate what the soldiers are doing for our country.'

Many Thanks...

Many thanks to the following for their kind donations of parcels, messages of support, get well cards or cool ties - Eileen Check, Mr & Mrs Macalinay, Mr & Mrs Birnie, J Wortley, Alastair Redman and customers at Portnahaven stores Islay, C Last, Audrey Gates, C Bone, A Middleton, Elaine & Mike from Derby, Caroline, Miss Y Ainley, Mrs Torville, Carole Patterson, Continental Chef Supplies South Hetton, A Lecas, Jeanette Obermiller USA, Aimee & Carl Lucas, Dawn Bibby Design Studio, Mrs M O'Connor, Florence, Nick, Martina (age 2) and Georgina (age 1) Brockleston, Ann WInstanley, Teresa Standen, Adel Little, Tracy Hill, Kate & Dave, Lynda Finn, Margaret Turville, Jan Fry, Cheryl Balmbra, Rose & Pete Watkins, Lawrence, Judith, Lynda Banks, E Hammerton, Kuckarslan Family, Tony & June Richardson, Peter Hall, Len & Martin Los, Jess Woodhams, Gary Duggan, Debbie and Enterprise.

Sunday 27th June - Royal Dragoon Guards Family Fun Day

Peter Bond our representative from Exeter kindly provided Yorkshire Tea for the day and a number of sports items.  Over 450 family members turned out, in glorious weather and a great day was had by all.  The RDG Welfare Team expressed their thanks to Peter for all his support.

Armed Forces Day

Events took place across the UK to mark Armed Forces Day, a wonderful weekend enjoyed by all who took part.  Rachel & Glyn were in Cardiff where the National celebrations took place.  They had a brilliant day, glorious weather and a great turnout.  Lots of people expressed an interest in the work of SOS and the grand total of £686.26 was raised. Thank you to the people of Cardiff of visitors for making Rachel and Glyn's first event such a huge success.

Stephen and Tina were at the Tesco Store in Kew, Southport, also the first event for them.  This is their report - 'The people of Southport were very generous, as we raised the sum of £319.47 for the Appeal during the few hours we were at the store, with people buying key fobs, badges and wrist bands as they showed interest in what the Charity is all about, where the monies go, and what we do with the shoe boxes/comfort packs, and where they are sent. We were lucky to have our local MP John Pugh, show his support by calling into the store, he was completely interested in the Charity and the work being done, thanking us for all our hard work on behalf to our Troops in Afghanistan.

Well known TV personality and International Clairvoyant, Derek Acorah, also showed his support for the Appeal, and he too thanked us for the work we are doing for the SOS Appeal. Local resident, Colin Hughes (Piper), called into the store after taking part in the Armed Forces Day Parade in Southport, and was thrilled to see us there collecting for the Appeal.  Finally, we wish to thank everyone at Tesco's for their help and support, making us feel welcome in the store.

Stephen & Tina with John Pugh                 Tina with Colin Hughes (Piper)

                  MP for Southport

Tina with Derek Acorah

http://www.southportreporter.com/454/454-13.shtml

http://www.southportreporter.com/454/454-10-10.shtml

Yorkshire Regiment Freedom Parades

Crowds turned out to honour members of the Yorkshire Regiment as they took part in parades across the region.  The picture below show's Tracy's mum Mrs Brenda Harwood cheering the boys and girls along the way!

Northumberland Update

Our sincere thanks to members of North Seaton Community Centre Association Tea Dance Club who organised a day trip and raffle and very kindly donated the proceeds of £100 to our Morpeth representatives Glenn & Elaine.  A great effort very much appreciated!

Thursday 17th June - Funeral of Gnr Zak Cusack

Today the funeral of fallen hero Gnr Zak Cusack will take place at St Saviour's Church, Smallthorne. Since Zak's death on the 26th May his family and friends have shown remarkable strength and, as you'll see from the article below, even organised a football match to help other Servicemen and women.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them today, especially Tracey, Dave, Sean and Sandra. May Zak rest in peace now, in our hearts forever.

Friends of Afghanistan hero Zak Cusack play charity football match
Stoke & Staffordshire
The money raised will go to charities Help For Heroes and Support Our Soldiers. The football match will now become an annual event to honour Zak's memory

Hundreds line streets to mourn soldier Zak Cusack after Afghan death
Stoke & Staffordshire
... Longton High School pupil, along with two other soldiers killed in Afghanistan. ... through her work with the forces charity Support Our Soldiers (SOS), ...

Thank You Clap-Banner©

Many thanks to Mark and Carolyn Israel who have very kindly donated 500 England World Cup Clap-Banners© for our boys and girls in Afghanistan 'as a matter of appreciation for all their bravery and hard work'   We're sure the banners will go down a storm!  For more information about the banners visit www.clap-banner.com

Armed Forces Day Discount from the Science Museum London

As the nation shows their support for those who make up the Armed Forces community, the Science Museum will be acknowledging the special day with a week long promotion for servicemen/women and their families.  The Science Museum will be offering servicemen/women and their families half-price entry to the Museum’s IMAX 3D Cinema from 20 June (Father’s Day) until 2 7 June.

The offer will be open to all servicemen/women, whether part of the Royal Navy, British Army or Royal Air Force, and also to veterans. Upon showing a service card, you will be able to get half-price tickets on adult, child and family tickets. Where a serviceman/woman is not present, the families will be able to receive the discount if they have dependency passes but identity is required.

Films showing include Hubble 3D, Fly Me To The Moon 3D and Deep Sea 3D.  For further information visit www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/imax or call 0870 870 4868. Please note that tickets cannot be pre-booked with this promotion but must be purchased at Science Museum sales desks. The Museum can be very busy at weekends so please bear in mind that shows are subject to availability and should preferably be booked at sales desks for the desired film upon arrival.

Skipton Working Men's Club

Our sincere thanks to members and staff at Skipton Working Men's Club who held a fundraising evening for Support Our Soldiers and raised the grand sum of £765.  A cheque was presented to John, our representative for Keighley and Skipton who also gave a short talk about the work of SOS. Special mention to Mr Reid who organised the evening and to everyone who gave so generously.

Saturday 12th June - SOS Rotherham Team at Tesco Dinnington

Report from Tracy - 'Tesco - Dinnington hosted our very first superstore event in support of SOS on Saturday 12th June on Outgang land Dinnington.  Everyone was in a patriotic mood due to England playing later in the day.   We had a great time meeting lots of shoppers who showed real enthusiasm for our appeal.  We spoke to serving military who took leaflets and said they would pass SOS details on to their colleagues, we met military veterans from all the forces, and spoke to family members of serving soldiers.   The merchandise was selling like hot cakes, our care package trolley was half full and the 3 collection tubs were bursting at the seams.  We raised a combined total of £483.13......fantastic   Thanks to Tracy & Alex of TESCO our first superstore SOS experience was a HUGE success.'

   Tracy, Sarah and Tracy from Tesco               Tracy, Steve and Sarah

May 2010

Saturday 29th May - B&M Homestore Nuneaton

Report from Liz - ' Although it was raining we had tremendous support from the shoppers who donated a trolley full of items for care parcels. £78.58 was donated in cash and my daughter Rebecca raised another £36.70 with her teddy Tombola. Thanks to Michelle and the staff at B & M. Thank you to Sue Vick who came to see us and left me with a bag full of items for parcels. Special thanks to Melanie and all the residents of Sunnyside Court (sheltered housing) who came together and filled nine shoeboxes full of fantastic goodies. Now planning the next event, look out for more news soon. Liz  Nuneaton'

Operation Red Rose

Earlier in the month it was our priviledge to send a batch of parcels out to members of 1 Lancs who had recently deployed to Afghanistan.  Today we've received a lovely email from one of their senior officers letting us know just how much the parcels have been appreciated...

'I apologise for not being in touch earlier but this has been a busy period for the Lancs battle group and I have been out and about to the locations were the lads are.  Unfortunately the have very little in the way of mod cons no internet, little power no cold water, so anything that is sent is very much appreciated. I understand that in most cases its a thankless task and am glad that people in the  UK are supporting us in what we are doing. From the Lancs lads and lasses many thanks for all your support.'

Well Done Alex!

Many thanks to Alex Windram aged 8 who heard about our stamp appeal when her mum joined SOS to support her cousin on his tour to Afghan, Alex decided to tell her frinds at school and brownies and after getting a positive response from the wrote to the local newspaper, following them printing Alex's letter the newspaper were innundated with people wanting to know more and so they ran a full page story, amonsgt those wanting to support Alex were 500 ! Royal Mail workers so looks like we have our work cut out and hopefully Joy has plenty of storage space! Very well done Alex, what a star x  See the press report - This is Leicestershire

Falkirk Boys Brigade

Our sincere thanks to Falkirk Boys Brigade who held a collection for SOS at their recent Awards Evening and raised the wonderful sum of £155. 4th Falkirk BB is based in Hallglen and raised the money during their Awards night where the Rev David Anderson from Black Watch was their special guest. David presented the top awards to Jamie Bowman, Greg Neary, Dale Maxwell and Alex Walker. Many congratulations to the boys for their wonderful achievements.

In The Press...

A Halsall couple have been made area co-ordinators for a charity ...
Ormskirk & Skelmersdale Advertiser
... organisers Stephen and Tina Parfitt will continue to raise awareness of the Support Our Soldiers charity, which sends parcels to servicemen and women. ...

Support Our Soldiers Falkirk | BlogsToday |
What can I say but BIG THANKYOU to the kindhearted people of Falkirk after becoming involved with the charity Support Our Soldiers many of you have handed ...

Church Cancels Services to Help Community
AboutMyArea
The morale-boosting care parcels were sent as part of the Support Our Soldiers campaign. Worshippers also put together 50 care kits for those who are ...

Ready to ride for heroes
Braintree and Witham Times
... for the Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes and Support Our Soldiers. ... we all need to support our boys that are out there,” said Mr Dillard, 45. ...

22nd May 2010 - Coffee Morning at Head Office

Our coffee morning held on Saturday, perhaps the hottest day of the year so far, raised the grand sum of £559.  Many thanks to everyone who came along despite the weather and donated so generously.  Our sincere thanks too to all our wonderful volunteers without whom the day would not have been possible and to members of Bingley Army Cadets for all their support.  Special thanks too to Anita Dickerson who wore her bright pink 'Hannah Montana' wig and raised a further £66 through sponsorship from family and friends.

20th May 2010 - Enterprise CR Awards Presentation Evening

It was a pleasure to be invited to the recent Enterprise Awards Evening in Manchester and to speak about the work of SOS.  Neil Kirkby, CEO of Enterprise, very kindly presented us with a cheque for £5,000 and a further £1,693 was raised from the raffle which was tremendous.  Our sincere thanks to Neil and to everyone at Enterprise for their generosity and support since January.  Huge thanks too to Rachel and Kelly for all their help and for organising such a wonderful evening. 

Saturday 7th May - Welcome Home Matthew and 3 Rifles BG

A big welcome home to Steve's son Matthew and all members of 3 Rifles BG returned from their tour of Afghanistan.  On the 7th May they marched through Edinburgh where hundreds turned out to show their support.

Matthew and dad Steve share a welcome home drink!

BBC News - Three Rifles Homecoming parade in Edinburgh The Three Rifles battlegroup have returned to Edinburgh and marched through the City for their homecoming parade

Saturday 7th May - Tesco's North Harbour Portsmouth

Lynn our representative from Portsmouth had a fundraising day at Tescos and raised the grand total of £283.42.  Many thanks to everyone who contributed so generously and to staff at Tesco for their hospitality..

In The Press...

Family fun event marks 65th anniversary of VE Day
Lancashire Evening Post
Support Our Soldiers ran a tombola and stall during the day and the British Legion also had a stall. Money was raised for Derian House Children's Hospice, ...

St Faith's Great Crosby offers support to service families
Click Liverpool
Regular servicemen, TA and ex-service personnel, Air cadets, members of SSAFA, Support Our Soldiers Charity, people from other churches, family members, ...

Up for the challenge
The Star
To sponsor Maj Osborne and his team, visit www.justgiving.com/Carol-King or send donations to Support Our Soldiers area co-ordinator Carol King, ...

7th May 2010 - Congratulations David and Sacha

Many SOS congratulations to Mary's son David and his new wife Sacha who celebrated their wedding on the 7th May.  Both David and Sacha are serving soldiers, Sacha recently having returned from a tour of Afghanistan and David to deploy shortly.  Wishing them all the very best in their future life together.

6th May 2010 - Prince of Wales Pub, Eccleshill Cheque Presentation

Following the fundraising evening in March we were delighted to be invited back to the Prince Of Wales pub in Eccleshill where a cheque for £2,041 was presented to us. An absolutely tremendous result and we really can't sufficiently thank Trevor and Leigh, Caroline and Peter and everyone who contributed so generously for this magnificent effort.

War Heros Grave

Thanks to Charles in Holland who is a keen supporter of SOS, the marvellous efforts of Tiny Claessen have finally been recognised.  For 45 years Tiny has lovingly tended the grave of Flight Sergeant Henry Hiscox who died in a Second World War bombing raid over Holland.  On the 65th anniversary of Holland's liberation Tiny was visited by war veteran Air Commodore Charles Clarke OBE and presented with a photo of a Lancaster Bomber signed by all the veterans.  Tiny said ' "He gave his life so people like me could live free and happy. It was the right thing that he should be respected and remembered.'
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2972414/Woman-spent-45-years-caring-grave-of-hero-British-airman.html

Leicester Update

Report from Amanda - 'Our families group continues to go from strength to strength as word gets out and as well as offering socialising and support to many families with family in the Forces and those deployed we have also been able to help many Veterans and Ex-Service persons by pointing them in the right direction towards assistance they have needed. Our SOS team here in Leicester have been out and about as always giving presentations to various groups in schools, guides, WI's about the work of SOS and supporting the troops, this has resulted in lots  (100's ! ) of donations and parcels and I would like to thank the following for their contributions - Fairfield Community Primary School, Tanya (plus wipes), Corby N'hants RBL,  Rothly/Mountsorrel Restuk.  Thanks also go to my team here - Dee, Paul, Padre Tony Coslett, Roger M, Mandy for all they are doing, and also to Alex Windram aged 8, who has the makings of a fab A/C with all her work especially in the stamp collecting department. And to the AFCO in Leicester for the storage space and AFCO Notts for the transporting of parcels, we have tremendous support here from these guys.   Keep looking on the events page and also SOS leicestershire on FB to see where and what we are up to at local events.  Amanda'

April 2010

Lee Hangar Runs Hastings Half Marathon for SOS

May we extend our sincere thanks to Lee Hanger who took part in the Hastings Half Marathon in March and raised the tremenous sum of £1,034.50 for SOS.  A wonderful effort very much appreciated. Sincere thanks too to everyone who sponsored Lee so generously. 

SOS Stirling in the News

25th April - Mascot Gold Cup Wetherby Races

Many thanks to Debbie Davies, wife of local MP Philip Davies, who took part in the Mascot Gold Cup as The Galloping Major and raised a wonderful £326 for SOS.  The event, organised by Sue Ryder Care and Yorkshire Young Farmers, raised over £15,000 in total for the various charities supported by the 'runners'.  May we also offer our thanks to Ladies In Waiting of Ilkley who very kindly sponsored Debbie's costume. Mascot Gold Cup

12th April 2010 - HEROtsc Awareness Event

Report from Tracy - SOS Rotherham - "The Support Our Soldiers Awareness fundraiser was held at HEROtsc on Monday 12th April 2010. As anticipated, it was a great success.   Dawn Cassidy continued with her support and enthusiasm for SOS   The event included a SOS Awareness stall, tombola, cake stall (donated by Woodward’s) & Name the Teddy.

Total raised on the day was a fantastic £349.99 that will enable usto continue with our support of our soldiers. Special thanks go to HEROtsc for hosting the event, to Dawn, Kath, Kieran, John, Chris, Phil, Tracey, Jean, Jackie & Lynn, SOS volunteer helper Shelly Harrison.

Thanks also go to Captain Rogers, WO2 Maycock, WO2 Braisby & Sgt. Beaumont of 146 Fd Coy REME (V) Rotherham, not only did they attend and support the event but also brought along donated items for the care packages.

Our Sincere Thanks to...

Can we say a very big thank you to everyone who's so kindly sent parcels, parcel fillers, messages of support, get well cards and cool ties over the past few weeks - Dorothy Burton, Alastair Redman and customers at Portnahaven Stores, Islay, Helen Cardwell, Claire Burrage, Roo Douglas, Bywater, Olive Prewer, James Sutherland Natwest, Emma Pannell, D Rowlands, Tracey Devine, Carol & Rusty, D Andrews, Samantha Haynes, John and Coral Fenton, Kath Drake, A Matalot, Home Office London, Catherine Prosser & Sharron Kearnes, Anne Hallsworth, Lyon Castle, Catherine Creedon, The lads at A8's Club 238 RLC Bootle and 165 Port RLC Marchwood, Marc Dyson, Mrs D Andrews, Lynda Banks, Aimee & Carl, Helen, Mr J Leadley, Corinna Last, Audrey Gates, Jan Lay, Suzanne McCreedy, Mrs M Stephenson, St Anns Church Coffee Morning Group, Andrew Low, Dianne Carvill, Eileen Cheek, Stewart, Jenefer Wilson, D Perrott, Ellen Robbins, Janet Robinson, Rhiannon Hall, Laura Meisert USA, Mrs H Birnie, Jane Stead, Mr & Mrs B Hicks, Jill Furlong, Norma Willoughby, Adel Little, The Brennalls, Katie & Avril Bell, Laura Davis, Telscombe Cliffs WI, Ann Winstanley, Corinna Francis and Jo and the T3 Team Future PLC.  Their support, and in many cases, continued support really is much appreciated. 

Special mentions to Paccar Scout Camp Chalfont St Giles who delivered 135 beautifully made up parcels to Head Office, West Craven High Technology College Barnoldswick for their many boxes and parcel fillers (which were planned to be Christmas parcels but delayed due to adverse weather conditions!), Royal Mail Bradford for over 40 parcels and all their efforts in fundraising and selling merchandise, Mossley House for 85 parcels and The Princes Trust Team - Louis, Joseph, Leigh, Amy, Emma, Natasha, Abby, Daniel and Josh for 37 parcels.

Pupils at West Craven High Technology College Barnoldswick

In The Press...

NORTHLONDON TODAY | NEWS | Soldiers take time to send thanks for ...
More than 250 packages have now been sent by Support Our Soldiers which operates from the Enfield Royal British Legion in the Old Fire Station ...

Redditch man embarks on gruelling challenge
Redditch Advertiser
Steve Haresnape from Riverside will be walking the length of Britain from John O'Groats to Land's End to raise cash for Support our Soldiers and the ...

Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors can today reveal that the charities Help for Heroes, the Army Benevolent Fund and Support Our Soldiers are set to benefit from the St ...

Soldier in Three Peaks Challenge
Wigan Today
She said: "The aim of Support Our Soldiers is to provide support for our serving men and women and their families at home...

Portsmouth Update

Many thanks to Lynn and her team in Portsmouth for all their efforts in April.  A Care Parcel Event at Morrisons Horndean on the 19th and 20th April generated  4 trolleys of shopping and £327.87.  The collection at Asda Waterlooville on the 23rd and 24th April raised a further trolley load of shopping and £314.29.  A great effort and thank you to customers and staff at both stores for their generosity.

Congratulations to Pte Alex Kennedy!

Many congratulations to 18 year old Pte Alex Kennedy who has become the youngest Military Cross Winner since World War 2.  Brave Alex from Bromsgrove, who had been in the Army for just eight months, put himself in the line of fire to rescue his Commanding Officer. Alex's mum said 'I was so much in shock when I heard that news that Maria from Support Our Soldiers who had been sending parcels to Alex during his tour came round to comfort me'.  Again many congratulations Alex we're all very proud of you indeed.

Report from the Mirror    Report from The Sun

Bromsgrove Standard

David Lloyd Fitness Team Raise Nearly £4,000!

Our sincere thanks to the rowing team at David Lloyd Fitness in Bromsgrove who rowed for 14 hours non stop for SOS and raised the magnificent sum of nearly £4,000.  The team rowed more than 600 miles, equivalent to rowing from Bromsgrove to Glasgow and back.  Many thanks to the team - Trevor Rice, Andy Wagg, Steve Hogan, Nicky Pullen, Sue Turner, Paul Taft, Chris Harrison, Liz Green, Kim Edmunds, Amanda Maughan-Wilson, Becky Johnson and Ian Northolt and to everyone who gave so generously.

Bromsgrove rowing team participate in charity challenge
Bromsgrove Advertiser
The indoor rowing team at David Lloyd Fitness Club, in Slideslow Drive, rowed for 14 hours non stop, in teams of two, for the Support Our Soldiers charity. ...

Friday 2nd to Monday 5th April - East Leeds Lions Rally

Despite the cold, wind and rain we had a wonderful time at the East Leeds Lions Rally and thanks to everyone's generosity raised the grand sum of £648.21.  As always the biking community made us very welcome and we really can't thank them enough for all their support. 

East Leeds Lions MCC Website

Saturday 3rd April - SOS Pyjama Party - Lord Barrington, Stakeford 

Report from Glenn & Elaine - 'We all had a fantastic night on Easter Saturday at the Pyjama Party and our sincere thanks to Lucy for her hard work organising it.  Thanks also to Leslie for collecting donations and gifts from the local shops, the bar staff, and to everyone who came along.  Their generosity and support, as always, is very much appreciated.  Sincere thanks to Chic Hair and Beauty, Chisolm Bookmakers, Londis, Christine, Pampered Pooches, JH Pearson, Allsorts, 2 B Celebrated, The Fruit Shop and Boots, who all donated prizes.  We raised the massive sum of £424.41 through the sale of merchandise, a raffle, tombola, domino cards, bbq and donations.  Thanks to everyone for their continued support - and a special mention to Owen (Lucy`s son) who worked very hard on the night for us.  Glenn and Elaine'

Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd April - Morrisons Keighley

Anita, David, Jennifer and Fred manned the SOS Stall at Morrisons, Keighley store and raised the wonderful sum of £701.50 through merchandise sales and £583.83 in donations.  Our very grateful thanks to them and to all customers who gave so generously.

Thanks to CPC Computers Preston

Many thanks to CPC Computers in Preston who have very kindly donated mini pc hoovers for sending out to the lads - as requested to keep their computers free of sand!  Thank you too to Brian for organising this.

Thanks to ready steady store Worsley

Our sincere thanks to ready steady store who have offered free storage space and to act as a collection point for future appeals at their East Lancashire Road facility.  Sharron our coordinator for the Manchester/Bolton area said ‘ready steady store in Worsley has been tremendous, looking after Support our Soldiers local interests with care and professionalism, and we are extremely grateful for all their assistance.'

March 2010

Saturday 20th March 2010 - SOS 7th Anniversary Charity Ball

Over 150 guests attended our ball at the Queen's Hotel in Leeds on the 20th March and a wonderful time was had by all.  Great location, great food, great company and a great band all contributed towards a thoroughly enjoyable evening. 

We were delighted to have as our guests the Deputy Lord Mayor and Deputy Lady Mayoress of Leeds and our sincere thanks to them for taking time out of their busy schedule to attend.  It was also our pleasure to be joined by Colonel Jefferson and QM Edwards who were with us seven years ago at the launch of SOS. It was a real pleasure to meet with them once again.

It was a great pleasure to welcome Sgt Cartwright of 2 Yorks as our guest speaker. We're very grateful to him for giving our guests a greater insight into life on the frontline in Afghanistan and for confirming just how much support from the public means to the boys and girls.

Our sincere thanks to Enterprise, Royal Mail and Millennium for their kindness in sponsoring the evening.  To those who provided gifts for our raffle and auction including the Conservative Party, Peter Andre, Preston North End FC, the Queen's Hotel, Cllr David Heseltine, Cllr Robin Owens, Smith & Canova, Toni & Guy Leeds, La Tasca Leeds, Mirror Mirror Bingley, Green's Health & Fitness and Premier Cru Fine Wine Ltd. To Towler & Staines for kindly donating the yellow balloons, to Matt Ward of VM Lounge for table decorations, and to Art Display Bingley for all their help with advertising material. The raffle raised £400 and the bottle of Whiskey signed by David Cameron kindly donated by Philip Davies, MP Shipley, a further £50.

Further thanks go to our band Crescendo who really made the evening go with a swing.  There wasn't a moment whilst they were playing that there wasn't a person on the dance floor, so many thanks to them one and all.

And finally sincere thanks to all our guests who travelled from across the UK, Aberdeen to Penzance, to be with us. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did and looking forward to next year...!

More pictures on Facebook

Sunday 14th March - Mother's Day run for SOS

Many thanks to Dawn, Martin and members of Pyeratz MCC who organised a Mother's Day run for Support Our Soldiers from Squires Cafe in Sherburn in Elmet to the Armouries in Leeds.  The response was tremendous and our sincere thanks to all the local MC Clubs who turned up to support the event.  Our stall at Squires Cafe raised a grand total of  £718.03.  Many thanks to Jason at Squires for all his hospitality and to everyone who attended the run and gave so generously.

YouTube - Wootton Bassett
queueWootton Bassett Mothers Day Bikers Event 2010.9919 viewsBritsNationalPeople · Support our Soldiers Run 2010 wootton Bassett support run 3:45 ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qXk9ZET1zI&feature...

In The Press...

Home comforts sent out to our soldiers | Scunthorpe Evening ...
Riddings Infant And Nursery School took part in the Support Our Soldiers Shoebox Appeal, which is a registered charity. A spokeswoman for the school said: ...

Troops Get Boost from King Kong & Friends! - Birmingham Mail ...
By Paul Birch
THE COMIC Book Alliance (CBA) is joining with the 'Support Our Soldiers' charity to send thousands of comic books and graphic novels to troops stationed around the world and many miles from home. The CBA spoke to troops before Christmas ...

Drop-in day for families of military | Leicester African Carribean ...
By admin
The Forces Family Social Group is being launched by Amanda Crowden, who is the Leicestershire representative for Support our Soldiers. She plans to set up regular meetings on weekday evenings for the parents, grandparents, siblings...

Mother of serviceman looks to support soldiers
She also noted how she has been assisting the local Support Our Soldiers co- ordinator: "I help with the wrapping of the boxes that get sent to Afghanistan. ...

Well Done Cameron!

Huge congratulations and thanks go to 11 year old Cameron Barrett who has won the Young Brummie of the year award for his work for SOS. Over the past year Cameron has organised a host of events to raise cash and awareness and we really can't thank him enough for all his wonderful efforts.  Well done Cameron!

Wool for Support Our Soldiers Easter Chicks

Our sincere thanks to James C Brett of Bingley who kindly donated 30 balls of wool for our Easter chicks. 

Sincere thanks too to our wonderful team of knitters who between them have knitted over 300 chicks for the Easter parcels!  Don't they look fab!

Jennings Funeral Directors

Many thanks to Jennings Funeral Directors in Wolverhampton who have chosen SOS as their Charity of the Year 2010.  This is a wonderful gesture and very much appreciated.  Jennings are also promoting the Stamp Appeal in the community and have received an overwhelming response.  Many thanks to Angie for all her efforts with this and to everyone joining in the Appeal.

Saturday 6th March - SOS Coffee Morning Great Bentley Village Hall

Our sincere thanks to Judy and Alan Bishop who held a coffee morning at Great Bentley Village Hall and raised the fantastic sum of over £700 through a raffle, tombola, book stall, name the dog, refreshments and the sale of Judy's home made cakes.  We know that Judy had been baking non stop in preparation for the event so our sincere thanks to her and to everyone who went along on the day and gave their support.

Saturday 6th March - Fundraiser Prince of Wales Pub Eccleshill

A fantastic day was had by all at the SOS Fundraiser held at the Prince of Wales pub in Eccleshil, Bradford which included children's rides, stalls, live band, free supper and a grand raffle.  Our sincere thanks to Leigh and Trevor, Caroline, Peter and Chris for all their wonderful efforts in organising this and to their customers and staff for their kind and very generous support.  The total raised will be announce shortly.

Comic Book Alliance sends comics to the Troops

The Comic Book Alliance has joined with Support Our Soldiers to send thousands of comic books and graphic novels to troops stationed around the world and many miles from home.... Comic Book Alliance 

Our sincere thanks to Markosia and Forbidden Planet for their kind donations, to the Royal Mail for their help with deliveries and to GM Jordan, co-founder of the Comic Book Alliance for his wonderful efforts in coordinating the appeal.

Mile End Women's Institute Colchester

Many thanks to the ladies of the Mile End WI in Colchester who raised the grand total of £210 for SOS through the Waitrose charity scheme.  We are extremely grateful for the continuing support from Mile End WI and may we add special thanks to President Avril Taylor who has been instrumental in not only organising this donation but also in organising collections of goods from Tesco, Asda and the Co-Op in Colchester.  Everyone's tremendous efforts and generosity are very much appreciated.

Book Donation from Square-Enix Europe

Square-Enix Europe have very kindly donated over 700 copies of their Soldier Slang of WWII book Fubar to be sent out to the Troops in Afghanistan.  Many thanks to Square-Enix Europe and to Charlotte for all her assistance with this wonderful donation. Fubar - Soldier Slang of World War II

February 2010

Saturday 27th February - Charity Ball

Our sincere thanks to Barry Halliday, family, friends and associates who organised the charity ball on the 27th February and raised the amazing sum of £1,020.  We are truly graterful for all their wonderful efforts.  This is Barry's report -

'The ball took place at the Six Hills Hotel (A46) Leicestershire 27th Feb.  the night went very well with 80 people in attendance, food and drink flowed with ease , the comedian Mr. Mark Rough was a star he entertained us all for 40 mins.with a selection of lets say “the color blue” gags. The Raffle, Auction and donations raised £1020 on the night; four serving personnel from the Animal Defence Centre were guests of honor and I am told had a great time. Many thanks to all family, friends and company’s that donated prize’s and cash for the night. As you can see by the photo’s a merry time was had by all'

Saturday 27th February 2010 - Coffee Morning SOS HQ

The coffee morning held at SOS HQ in Bingley raised the grand sum of £938!  Many, many thanks to everyone who came along and supported us on the day, to our wonderful team of volunteers who worked so hard to make the event a success, and to local businesses including Luscombes of Queen's Court and Mirror Mirror for their kindness in supplying tombola prizes.

In the Press

Salfordonline News
Parcels from home: Support our Soldiers. by Tom Rodgers Sharron Thomas is the local organiser for Support Our Soldiers, a charity sending care packages to troops fighting overseas. It's a vital service: some of the men and women serving ...

Mother of serviceman looks to support soldiers
She also noted how she has been assisting the local Support Our Soldiers co- ordinator: "I help with the wrapping of the boxes that get sent to Afghanistan. ...

Mother, 23, gets behind our troops with SOS campaign
Amy Smith works for the Support Our Soldiers charity which sends welfare packages to troops serving in war zones like Afghanistan. The 23-year-old's own family has military connections. Her mum Lyn served in the Army and her dad Colin ...

'Oar-some' marathon
Bromsgrove Advertiser
Rowing: A TEAM from a Bromsgrove-based leisure centre is taking part in a charity row for the Support Our Soldiers charity. Members of DLC Bromsgrove, ...

Helensburgh barber's snip for charity
Helensburgh Advertiser
Cash raised through the scheme will be given to Support our Soldiers. Greg said: "We estimate that this could create income for the charity to the tune of ...

Soldiers thank Brownies for gifts
Shields Gazette
But this Christmas, Brownie leaders decided to support the SOS Shoebox Appeal after seeing how the Support Our Soldiers charity had been sending packages to ...

Manchester City football club charity charities donation new ...
This season we've supported more than 300 different charities and organisations including: Support Our Soldiers, The Harley Slack Fund, Christies, North West Air Ambulance, Derian House Children's Hospice and numerous local football ...

Support our Soldiers brings Christmas cheer - Buchan Observer
FOLLOWING its launch last November , Support Our Soldier's Christmas parcel appeal has proven more popular than ...

Bromsgrove rowers take on charity challenge
Bromsgrove Advertiser
“This is all in aid of Support Our Soldiers so please donate generously. SOS send items that the troops really want and need. “Two years ago it was tough, ...

Rowers attempt oar-some SOS task
Bromsgrove Standard
... call Ian on 07939 175505. Cash can be donated at: www.justgiving.com/DLCBromsgrove. For more on Support Our Soldiers, call Maria on 07851 275711.

Fighting chance for forces families as support group set up ...
Since Karen Webster helped set up Support Our Soldiers (SOS) in 2003 after her son was deployed to Iraq the organisation has provided support for members of ...

Soldiers' memorial gets SOS support
Worcester Standard
The Worcestershire branch of Support our Soldiers (SOS) is in favour of a planned plaque and book of remembrance which would sit in the reception ...

Praise for forces organisation as wounded East Yorkshire hero Ben ...
The Press, York
The group is open to the relatives of service personnel and is the brainchild of the charity Support Our Soldiers. Rebecca, of Bishopthorpe, has told ...

Support our Soldiers spreads its message
A WOMAN who has campaigned tirelessly to set up networks to help families of Scottish soldiers serving overseas last night spoke of the importance of ...

Support our Soldiers spreads its message Press & Journal
Debra Milburn is the northeast of Scotland coordinator for Support our Soldiers, an organisation which has been active in the UK for several years but ...

Free Flowers For A Year Help Send Care Packages To Deployed Troops
PRLog.Org (press release)
“We send boxes every month to let our soldiers know we haven't forgotten them, ... worth of flowers for free and help support our soldiers at the same time? ...

Iraq to Afghanistan for Lancashire woman
Lancashire Evening Post
... and everyone out there has to pull together to get through whatever comes our way. ... for their country and to support our soldiers out on operations. ...

Coldstream Guards march through York on way to London
The Press, York
... Families support group, open to anyone with a loved one serving in the armed forces, is being launched in York by the charity Support Our Soldiers. ...

Keep the cold out with winter ale festival in Redditch
Redditch Advertiser
The Redditch Winter Ale Festival charity will be Support Our Soldiers (SOS). A full range of other drinks and food, including soft drinks, ...

Broch OAP's gift to soldiers
Press and Journal
Violet Sanderson, of Strichen Road, gave the cash to the charity Support our Soldiers, which helps British troops serving overseas, because they “do such a ...

Combat Survival - 40 Commando Feature

Congratulations to Mary's nephew Daniel who featured on the front cover of the Combat Survival February Issue.  See more on the Combat Survival website

January 2010

Saturday 2nd January - Fundraising evening Catshill Social Club

The Social Evening in aid of SOS which was held at Catshill Social Club on Saturday January 2nd raised a fantastic £1000.00. Just over £950.00 was collected on the night which featured Abbey Road, a Beatles tribute band, a quiz and a raffle.  The clubs steward Sam Bissel then made the money to a round £1000.00.   Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment who had recently returned from Afghanistan attended and Sergeant Adam Townsend spoke about how  much SOS meant to those deployed in the war zone and asked that the public continue to support us. Bob Jordon who is the clubs entertainments secretary was delighted with the evening, it was his first big event and he is iver the moon.  Both the band and the response was awesome especially as it was the day after new years day.  Bob said " I would like to thank everyone who donated prizes and all those who came along and made the evening such a great success for such a good cause".  Our sincere thanks to everyone involved.

Thanks to Gareth Nelson

Gareth Nelson, from Newbiggin by the Sea, won a Health & Safety Award last November when he worked for Shanahan Engineering Limited. The Company presents awards for outstanding safety performance in the field. The prize was £100, which had to be donated to a Charity of his choice. As his family are strong supporters of SOS he decided to donate the money to our charity. A huge thank you to Gareth and to Shanahan Engineering.

Elaine, our representative from Morpeth, receives the cheque from Gareth

December 2009

In the Press

Mother-of-three is greeted by Princes at award ceremony
Bradford Telegraph Argus
This year's Support Our Soldiers (SOS) Christmas Appeal has seen thousands of well-wishers donate seasonal gifts as a morale boost for those serving away ...

Families of Leicestershire troops in Afghanistan meet for support
Leicester Mercury - Leicester,England,UK
They were joined by some of Leicestershire's returning Territorial Army soldiers at the event which was organised by charity Support our Soldiers. ...

Newcastle to South Shields Half Marathon

Our sincere thanks to John Topping who took part in the Half Marathon and raised £755 for Support Our Soldiers.  See the full report from the Shields Gazette

Sunday 13th December - Blackpool Service Families Christmas Party

Blackpool SOS held a Christmas party for children of our troops based in and around the area.   The party was held at Wesham Community Centre on Sunday 13th December and attended by families from Fulwood and Weeton Barracks.   It was a great afternoon and the kids had a great time. We had lots of fun and games and a feast of party food. A visit from santa was also arranged where he handed gifts out to the children.   Thankyou to Cpt Roy Glendinning from Weeton for organising transport for everyone   Cpt Glendinning said that everyone had had a great time and was very grateful to SOS for all they had done.

Pack and Wrap - American Style

Wallace Craig of We Were Soldiers very kindly sent through these pictures of their recent pack and wrap 'State Style', and soldiers in Iraq receiving the parcels.  A tremendous effort by the 100s of volunteers as I'm sure you'll agree!.  You can find out more about their work by visiting We Were Soldiers

4th December 2009 - Christmas Parcel Appeal Closes...

Many thanks to everyone who contributed so generously to this year's appeal.  Thanks to your kindness 12,000 are now on their way to members of the British Armed Forces serving overseas.  For full reports and pictures please click here

1st December 2009 - Shopping Evening at RAF Marham

'Tracy would like to say a big thank you to Michelle Earl-Clarke and Stacie Shaw for arranging a shopping event at the Bull and Bowl at RAF Marham on the 1st of December.  All stallholders on the night paid to have a stall and the proceeds went to SOS.  Michelle and Stacie worked really hard and got an impressive amount of raffle prizes.  They both also baked lots of cakes and had a cake stall too that went down really well.   A grand total of £225.17 was raised on the night.  We also sold merchandise and got the message out about what we do as a charity.  All in all a great night was had by all!

November 2009

Thermals in Camp Souter!

Hi to Gary and the guys at Camp Souter.  Mary's been sending parcels to the team recently including a batch of thermals kindly donated by Damart which apparently 'lasted about 10 seconds'.  Glad they were of use and many thanks to Damart for their kind donation.

Blue Max Group Ltd Supports Our Soldiers

We'd like to express our grateful thanks to Martin Greenland of Blue Max Group Ltd in Norwich who have very kindly donated 2,000 tshirts to be sent out to the Troops in Afghanistan.  This is a tremendous gesture and the tshirts which will be sent out in the New Year will be very much appreciated.   Martin's own son is currently serving with 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment and we wish him all the very best. For more information about the Blue Max Group please visit their website

Norwich businessman sends shirts to the troops
Norwich Evening News - Norwich,England,UK
The t-shirts are now with SOS (Support our Soldiers), a non-political charity, and will be despatched to Helmand Province with the next load.

Norfolk man sends T-shirts to help soldiers
TheAdvertiser24 - Norwich,England,UK
It is our way of doing our bit." The T-shirts are now with SOS (Support our Soldiers), a non-political charity, and will be despatched to Helmand Province ...

Our Thanks to Storage King

Our sincere thanks to Storage King who have very kindly offered free storage facilities to our representatives across the UK.  This is a tremendous offer and very much appreciated.  For more information about Storage King please visit their website Storage King

28th November - The City Cares Charity Ball

Our sincere thanks to Nicola Stewart for her magnificent efforts in organising The City Cares Charity Ball which was held at the Victory Services Club in London on Saturday 28th November.  The event was a great success and thanks to Nicola's efforts and the generosity of sponsors and guests over £3,000 was raised. A wonderful effort for which we are truly grateful. www.thecitycares.co.uk

Sunday 22nd November - Christmas Parcel Bike Run

A fabulous day was had by all at the Christmas Parcel Bike Run very kindly organised for us by the British Legion Riders.  Over 130 bikers took part, leaving from The Causeway Foot at Ogden, via Keighley, and as they all arrived at Head Office bearing Christmas Parcels it really was a sight to see!  Many, many thanks to Julian and Andy for organising the event and to everyone who came along to show their support.  And a big thank you too to Woodbottom Club for welcoming us all so warmly after the ride with hot pies, drinks and live entertainment.  We'd also like to express our thanks to Doug Mangan of Army Bikers who presented us with a beautiful plaque to mark their support over the years togther with a cheque for £100.  Pictures and videos can be viewed by clicking on the image below and more can be viewed on the Pyeratz MCC Website

View Images and Videos by Clicking on the Image Above

Supporting our Soldiers in Thailand!

This picture was sent to us by Frank who bought one of our tshirts on a recent visit to the UK. Now being proudly worn in Patong, Phuket, Thailand.  Cheers Frank!

Sunday 22ndt November - CX-GL MCC UK Parcel Run

Our sincere thanks to Skippy for organising a Christmas parcel run in Exeter which generated two huge boxes of goodies for the troops.  Thank you to everyone who took part, in dreadful weather, and to everyone who contributed so generously.  This is Skippy's report -

'17 hardy souls from the CX-GL M.C.C. UK braved the weather and managed to gather in a very decent showing of goodies for the troops abroad.   I would like to thank:   Alex & Sue our hosts at the Prewley Moor Arms (a recommended stop off point for Motorcyclists).   And -  Bob, David, Fred, Gary, Jean, Mandy, Marion, Martin, Monty, Pete, PB, Richard, Sally, Sarah, Sue and Tony forr their outstanding support and efforts, without which all the organising in the world would be pointless!   I would also like to thank all the local business here in Exeter that helped out displaying posters and promising support - you guys know who you are :) Thanks!!!!'

Saturday 21st November - RBL Riders Droitwich Parcel Run

Report from Droitwich Advertiser -

Bikers show support for shoebox appeal

Around 80 bikers visited Droitwich Spa to show their suppport for the Support Our Soldiers shoebox appeal. The group, called the Royal British Legion Riders, gathered at the Droitwich branch of the legion in Salwarpe Road on Saturday, November 21. The group assembled from all over the Midlands to coordinate the Christmas boxes kindly donated by the public within the Droitwich area under the organisation of the Droitwich Royal British Legion.

Worcestershire representative of the Royal British Legion Riders, Andy Tuzzio, said: “We were stunned by the turnout of riders but that is what Legion Riders are all about, helping each other to help our service people. These boxes mean so much to our serving personnel and I would like to thank everyone who has supported so brilliantly this year including Waitrose supermarket who gave a significant contribution.”

And report from Irene -

Irene Droitwich Area Co-Ordinator, Would like to say a huge thankyou to Mark Keeling of the RBL Riders for putting this day together at very short notice, also thankyou to all the other RBL Riders for your support. Thanks also Amanda Jallands and her boys Tom and Ben along with there schools Cutnal Green 1st c/e School Westacre and Westlands school. Mandy Ashworth,Staff at Wilkinson and all the people of Droitwich for all there wonderfull donations for the christmas parcels. Also a huge thankyou to June Sankey for all she has done, thanks to Paul at the Legion for being my drop off point, thanks also to Net Nevey, Hazel Gandy and not forgeting Andy and Elaine Tuzzio. A huge thankyou to everyone, not only the people of Droitwich but other area's that also donated to Support Our Soldiers. On behalf of myself and SOS thanks to everyone your response bought in a massive 594 parcels.   In the photo of 21st November 2009 from left to right Mark Keeling, Irene Clarke,Andy and Elaine Tuzzio. Outside the Royal British Legion in Droitwich.

Saturday 21st November - Hereford Tombola

The tombola held by Liz in Hereford raised the grand total of £80.  Thanks to Liz, her team of helpers and everyone who contributed.

Thursday 19th November - Chocorococo Wedding Competition Winners Presentation

On the 4th November the panel of judges agreed unanimously that the winners of the 2009 Chocorococo Wedding Competition would be Dale and Amanda of Penarth Wales.  Dale has been serving in the Welsh Guards for 5 years and the couple have been together since they were 14 years old.  Dale was posted to Afghanistan in May where he sustained life threatening injuries caused by an IED.  Despite losing his leg, Dale has made a remarkable recovery thanks to the care and attention given to him at Selly Oak and Headley Court.  Alex has been his rock throughout and has held the family unit together.  She's shown strength and maturity way beyond her young years. 

The presentation took place on the 19th November where Daniel Aimes of Chocorococo was thrilled to announce that as well as the fantastic wedding package, a honeymoon had also been pledged.  So a very emotional day and Nick Owen delighted to be able to present the package to Dale and Alex.

The wedding will take place next year and of course full report will be provided.  In the meantime can we wish all the very best to this very special couple, and our sincere thanks to Lesley of Chocorococo for all her hard work in organising the competition.

Birmingham Mail Report

Injured soldier wins dream wedding in Birmingham
BirminghamMail.net
Maria O'Ryan, from Support Our Soldiers, told the couple about the competition while visiting injured troops at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at ...

Injured Barry soldier wins dream wedding!
Barry and District News
"We are working in conjunction with the Support Our Soldiers charity which offers support to soldiers and their families," added Lesley. ...

'Our dream is finally coming true'
BBC News
Mrs Aimes teamed up with the charity Support Our Soldiers (SOS) and soon encouraged six suppliers, including a florist and a caterer, to come on board. ...

For The Fallen

'The Fallen' has been written by David Leadingham, Jon Young and Steven Cooper to recognise the sacrifices made over the generations by our brave men and women of the Armed Forces.  With music by Jon Young and guitars by Jon and Dan Robinson, 'The Fallen' is a dedication to the loved ones of the heroes. The single will be released on November 11th 2009. All profits from the sales will be donated to SOS. To purchase your copy please visit The Fallen website

Wednesday 11th November - Coffee Morning for SOS

Our sincere thanks to Steve and Megan Greef who held a coffee morning for SOS on the 11th November and raised the wonderful sum of £314.  Thank you to everyone who contributed towards this for their kindness and generosity. Not only were funds raised but parcels and fillers donated too.  A wonderful effort which is very much appreciated.

Tesco Support for our Soldiers

Peter our representative for Exeter who like to offer a sincere vote of thanks to staff and customers at Tesco Superstore in Ivybridge, Devon who donated 26 trays of goods for the parcel appeal.  Sincere thanks too to Mr Ian Downs MBE, Chairman of East Devon Disabled Sports Association for kindly transporting Peter to the store to collect the goods.

Nurses Treat Casualties in War Zone

The following video shows our very own Mary Francis and Mary Donovan following their return from the medical centre in Afghanistan -

'They've spent years treating patients at a Black Country hospital - but nothing could prepare two nurses for a three-month stint in Afghanistan.Mary Donovan and Mary Francis, both work in the intensive care unit at Walsall Manor Hospital.'  Watch video

Monday 9th November - Remembrance Service Leicester Cathedral

?Soldiers past and present, their families and loved ones packed into Leicester Cathedral last night to remember those who lost their lives fighting for their country.

The touching service attracted more than 600 people, with young and old coming together to pay their respects to the fallen.

Serving soldiers and then bereaved family members read out tributes to their comrades and loved ones. During the service, 600 candles of remembrance were lit by guests as the the congregation sang Jerusalem. Following a two-minute silence, the national anthem was sung. Last night’s remembrance service was organised by Helen Gray and Amanda Crowden on behalf of Support Our Soldiers – a charity helping men and women serving abroad and their families. They decided to put the service together after the British Legion announced, in August, it would be cancelling its annual remembrance festival at De Montfort Hall.  To read the full story please visit the Leicester & Mercury website

Sunday 8th November - Fundraising at M&S Didsbury

Many thanks to Isobel McGowan Hough, aged 16, who held a fundraising day at Marks & Spencer in Didsbury on Remembrance Sunday and raised £252.45. Isobel's brother has recently returned from a six month tour of Afghanistan which prompted her to do something for the soldiers still out there.  A tremendous result and of course thank you to everyone who contributed so generously.

Saturday 7th November - Wolverhampton FC Fundraiser

Many thanks to Wolverhampton FC who held a fundraising event on the 7th November and raised a over £300.  Thank you to Angie for all her efforts in organising this and to everyone who contributed so generously.

Saturday 7th November 2009 - Wall Village Hall Coffee Morning, Hexham  

Report from Glenn and Elaine, Morpeth - ' Our sincere thanks to everyone involved with the Coffee Morning at Wall which raised a massive £888.  Special thanks to Muriel Horne and her colleagues for their hard work organising it, and for making us feel so welcome.  Thanks to everyone who came and also donated lots of parcel fillers and goodies for the Xmas parcels.  The support shown for our service personnel was amazing.   Glenn and Elaine'

Bromsgrove Update

Sergeant James Smith, Queens Royal Hussars and Gemma Brookes both from Bromsgrove ran the Birmingham Half Marathon in Memory of Private Robbie Laws on behalf of SOS and raised a fantastic £335.00.  James and Gemma did a fantastic run and we in Bromsgrove are very proud of them both.  James is engaged to an SOS member Kate Harrison and despite being heavily pregnant Kate supports SOS along with her wonderful Nan, Kath Hall.  Kath makes pillows and all sorts to send to our troops and I would like to thank, James, Kate, Gemma and Kath for all their hard work.      

Hanley Swan British Legion -  A member of this very small legion held a shoebox collection.  However when I arrived last night to collect what I thought was 60 shoe boxes, I cried.  There were 60 large crisp box plus sized boxes full of everything imaginable.  For the first time I cried when I saw what a very small group of legion members had acheived and I was totally overwhelmed.  I met some fantastic people at this club and would like to thank each and everyone of them for such a fantastic response and collection.   The goodies are now with Trudy and George, and I can;t thank them enough for the storage they have given me and all the help that they continue to give to SOS.  They are both truly remarkable people who I am now proud to call my friends.  

Asda Bromsgrove -  Asda asked me if they could put a trolley in the foyer to collect items for troops. Pauline and Lynn set it all up along with a few posters and the response was amazing.  It was only for one week but after the removal of the trolley they had to put it out again as the customers were asking where it had gone.  Each evening Lynn boxed up the trolley and took the itmes home.  45 banana boxes and 12 crisp boxes in 10 days for a small town is fantastic and I would like to thank all the staff and customers at Asda Bromsgrove for such a great acheivement.  Philip, wnet to the store during his RnR from Afghanistan to thank them and the picture is of Philip thanking Sarah the greeter.

Herefordshire Update

The Harvest Supper and Car Boot Sale held in Whitbourne raised the tremendous sum of £925 and the Saltmarshe Castle Caravan Park fundraising event £806!  Our very sincere thanks to Liz for organising these and to everyone who contributed so very generously.

Porthcawl Update

The recent store collections in Tesco raised the grand sums of £434.69 and £99.31, plus lots of parcel fillers donated.  Many thanks to the staff for their hospitality and to everyone who contributed so generously.

October 2009

Saturday 31st October - Darwen Fundraiser

We'd like to offer a huge thank you to the people of Darwen who held a Support Our Soldiers fundraiser on the 31st October and raised the wonderful sum of £1,182.25.  The event took place in the Market Square and included a brass band, street dancing, tombola, raffle and table top sale.

Blackburn & Darwen Junior Brass band entertained everyone on the day

Carl and Adam Hulme (manager of the Bridgewater Hotel, Darwen) who kindly allowed use of the hotel for the tombola

Group of supporters plus Carl due to be deployed to Afghanistan shortly

Our Sincere Thanks To -

Parcels, parcel fillers, handmade cards, letters of support and get well cards have literally been flooding in to Head Office over the past weeks.  We really can't thank everyone enough for their wonderful contributions, these really are appreciated and will make a big difference.  So huge thank yous to - Anne-Marie Lewis and everyone at the Relief Society, Judith Adams, Mrs D Andrews, Lea-Jane Beaton, M Bull, Elaine Burgoyne, Annette Hall, Paula Middleton, Paul & Sandra Sabucchi, Graham & Avril Smith, Jan Wetton, Jeanette Cousins, Dawn Easter, J Isherwood, Marguerite Knight, Donna Rowlands, Amanda Jeavons, Sarah Cooper, Geoff & Carole Darkes, Jennifer Davies, Mrs Dods, Mr & Mrs Doyle, Members of Enfield British Legion, P Feetenby, Mrs Joan Godwin and members of Warsash Southampton Women's Institute, Pamela Greer, Susan Griffiths, Mrs J Hall, Mrs Halls, Mr & Mrs Hayes, B Hicks, Mrs Holman, Corinna Last, Mr & Mrs Lennon, L Lui, Mrs Mansell, Mrs Maxwell, Suzanne McCready, Mrs Mead, Mr & Mrs O'Brien, Mr & Mrs Rawlins, Alastair Redman, staff and customers at Portnahaven Stores, Mrs Roberts, Mrs Scott, Mr Seymour, Tina Smart, Teresa Standen, Mrs Stanley, Mrs Stevenson, M Taylor, Rachael Thacker, Mrs Thomas, Chris & Lucy Thorne, Gaynor & Chris Thwaite, Mrs Tindle, Doreen Tucker and members of Caincross WI, Teresa Waghorn, Mrs P Watkins, Mrs J Wortley, Mrs K Wright, The Earl & Countess of Buchan, J Beisner, Mrs Dodson, Mr & Mrs Hallifax, Jane Rees, Mr Standerline, Dorothy in Lancashire, Mr & Mrs Kiddy, Mrs S Scott , Helen Cardwell, Debbie Tilling, Miriam Jenner, Denise Walsh & Family, Margaret Foenander Australia, Julie Skinner, 1st Ely Cubs, The Gordons, Tracey Devine, Jackie Butera USA, Keepsake Card Craft Oldbury, Mrs O Prewer, Sheila Sell, Ellen Robbins, Sue Goodyear, Norma Willoughby, Jenny Hannah, Mrs J Symon, Dawn Easter, J Isherwood & Granddaughter, Diane Mortimer, Pauline Wanstull and Audrey Gates.

Sincere thanks too to Boxing News for their regular supply of magazines which are thoroughly enjoyed by the boys, to Bearwood Burrow for Rubiks Cubes and to Next for their kind donation of socks.

First Aid Works

Many thanks to First Aid Works in Birmingham who very kindly donated a large selection of parcel items including plasters, pens biscuits, toiletries and sweets to Natalie our Birmingham representative.

Howden's Joinery Bodmin - Sky Dive

A huge thank you goes out to Adam Patton and Ian Stokes of Howden's Joinery Bodmin who did a sky dive for Support Our Soldiers and raised the magnificent sum of £1,459.74. Special thanks to Stephen Hawke for all his efforts in organising the event and to staff, account holders, families and friends for their kind and very generous contributions..

Sunday 24th October - St Nicholas Church Hornsea Coffee Morning

Our sincere thanks to everyone involved in the St Nicholas Church Coffee Morning held on Sunday which raised the tremendous sum of £671.46.  Many thanks to the organisers for all their hard work and to everyone who gave so generously.

Sunday 24th October - Hurlston Hall Golf & Country Club

A four-ball team competition was held on Saturday 24th October in aid of ‘Support Our Soldiers’. Although the weather was poor with heavy rain and wind the event was full.   1ST Prizes / NTP & Two’s along with raffle prizes were donated by the Members.  All players donated their entry fee and received complimentary soup on the 10th courtesy of the Company. During the evening the Captain’s continued to support S.O.S at their Social event with a Prize Presentation and raffle.

The support received for S.O.S was overwhelming raising in excess of £1500.

This hopefully will become an annual event that we can build on in future years.

Our sincere thanks to everyone involved for all your support.

Sunday 24th October - Store Collection Morrisons Penzance

The store collection at Morrisons organsied by Sue in Penzance raised just under £200 plus sufficient goods were donated to fill around 50 parcels.  Thank you to everyone who contributed for your wonderful generosity.

In the Press

TRANMERE PARCEL APPEAL
The Football League - London,UK
And Burgess, a season-ticket holder at Prenton Park, has taken on the role as Wirral Area Co-ordinator for the registered charity 'Support our Soldiers' ...

Sending our boys christmas wishes Uttoxeter Advertiser
Uttoxeter Advertiser support our soldiers With the war and dangers faced by British soldiers every day in Afghanistan never out of the media ...

Brayton College students boxing clever for troops

A LITTLE piece of home will be winging its way to British troops in the world's war zones thanks to kind-hearted students from Brayton College...

Soldier's mum's shoebox appeal mission
The Star - Sheffield,England,UK
It will be the first time Patsy has done a box for the troops, let alone organised a collection as part of the Support our Soldiers shoebox appeal. ...

Salfordonline News
Along with the Support Our Soldiers campaigners who often set up a stall in the town centre, Eccles has become a centrepiece for those supporting our brave troops. A local Gulf War veteran will write a remembrance poem, and ...

Monday 19th October - Crumbs Diner Fundraising Event - Avago Karting 2hr Endurance Race

Sincere thanks to Mel & Stuart Sutton & Pera Lalic of Crumbs Diner, Whitelee Road Swinton, Mexborough who organised the AVAGO Karting 2hrs Endurance. Eight teams tok part and Steven & Angela Sutton of AVAGO Karting were great hosts and ensured the race event ran smoothly.

The teams were - Crumbs Diner, John Burleys, 2 teams from Andy Malyons, Bolts Scaffolding, Total Mobile Valeting, 2010, & The Buckshee Team. 

The Winning Team was 2010 team, with 335 laps completed during the 2-hour period. A buffet, raffle & name the bear were all provided by Crumbs Diner.

Tracy Mounsey & her SOS helpers (hubby Steve, mum & sis Shelly) held a Support Our Soldiers awareness stall selling SOS merchandise. This is Tracy's report - 'The event was great fun and I was thrilled to see everyone having a wonderful time.  The passion Mel & her team showed in arranging this event was fantastic.  They are all generous people and very kind hearted in their support for our military. I was lost for words when at the end of the event Mel, Stuart & Pera presented me with the huge sum of £585. This was my first fund raising event since becoming the Rotherham Area Coordinator for the Support Our Soldiers National Charity.  I would like to say a HUGE thank you to all involved.  I know how thrilled the servicemen and woman will be when they receive their Christmas Parcels. Thanks to the kind generosity of the staff and customers of Crumbs Diner Whitelee Road Swinton Mexborough.' 

Rotherham Support Our SoldiersChristmas Parcel Appeal 2009
Each year since 2003 Support Our Soldiers have sent Christmas parcels to members of the ... Support Our Soldiers Email Tracy Rotherham's Area CoOrdinator ...

http://www.rotherhamweb.co.uk/features/soldiers.htm

Saturday 17th October - Somerfields Collection Wigan

Sincere thanks to Carol and her team Lesley and Deb who held a collection at Somerfields store in Wigan and raised the grand sum of £196.  Thank you to everyone who visited the stall and donated so generously and to staff at the store for their hospitality.

Wednesday 14th October - Iron Bridge & Severn Gorge Lions Club Collection

Many thanks to President and members of Iron Bridge & Severn Gorge Lions Club for their wonderful donation of parcel fillers handed over to Pauline.  Their kindness and generosity really was overwhelming and the goods will be very much appreciated.

Saturday 10th October - Lumley Arms Collection

Report from Tracy in Rotherham - ' Today myself and Steve visited the Lumley Arms on Tickhill Road Maltby, Rotherham were the kind Management, Staff and Customers collected the very generous amount of £75.00 for Support Our Soldiers national Charity.  Managers Sarah & Darren Hall, customers, Tommy, Julie,Mark,Russ,Arthur,Fred, Derek,Albert,Terry, Allen, Jim and Kevin were very supportive of our Christmas appeal and wanted to do their bit. 

Phil Briggs of P&H Snack Direct has kindly donated boxes of nuts, crisp, cheese snakes and biscuits for the Christmas Parcel Appeal.  I was thrilled to be contacted by Sarah this week after one of her customers had seen our Christmas Appeal Leaflet.  Sarah said she was only to pleased to offer her support and said the Lumley Arms shall continue to support SOS.   

I also received a letter & wonderful donation from Julie France the HR Manager of Norton Finance, Mansfield Road, Rotherham.  The company held a dress down day and where thrilled to raise £30.00 for the Support Our Soldiers Christmas Parcel Appeal.  I am thrilled that a local company and their staff can show support to our servicemen & woman.   A letter arrived today from Premier Foods based in Long Sutton,Spalding Lincolnshire with a £10 coupon towards the Support Our Soldiers Christmas Appeal.  Many thanks to Jan, Consumer Relations Adviser, your donations shall go to good use.'

7th October - Dinnington and Kiveton Support

Many thanks to Andy Lyne for delivering a further 71 parcels donated by the kind people of Dinnington, Kiveton and surrounding areas. And a special thank you to Vicky of Watts Estate Agents for so kindly offering their premises as a collection point and collating the parcels.

3rd October - Store Collection Asda Keighley

Many thanks to the staff and customers at Asda in Keighley.  Despite gale force winds and torrential rain we were given a very warm welcome and met some lovely people.  Nearly two trolley loads of shopping were collected together with £430.07 in donations and merchandise sales.  Sincere thanks to everyone who contributed and to Mandy for all her help on the day.

In The Press

Tropical Park Tenerife Support our Soldiers
Support our Soldiers. You are probably surprised at the title today but Tropical Park wwas lucky enough to be involved in a charity event in the UK where a ...

Birmingham appeal for gift boxes to send to British troops in ...
BirminghamMail.net - Birmingham,UK
Natalie Chambers, from Kings Norton, became the city's representative for the Support Our Soldiers (SOS) charity in May. The 35-year-old has spent her first ...

Andrea helps bring festive joy to troops
Larne Today - Northern Ireland,UK
The Support Our Soldiers Christmas appeal is asking people to make up parcels filled with a selection of seasonal goodies and other items, which will then ...

Shoebox Appeal For Troops Serving in Afghanistan Over Christmas
Ely Standard - Ely,England,UK
Tracy Bradbury is a coordinator for the national charity Support Our Soldiers, which provides support to members of the armed forces serving overseas. ...

Islanders Display Support for Troops

September 2009

100 Years of Guiding - 100 Parcels

Report from Amanda - ' I would like to say a HUGE thankyou to the girls, leaders and parents of the 1st Anstey Guides, the 1st and 2nd Anstey Brownies, 3rd Anstey Rainbows, Bradgate Rangers and Newton Linford Brownies all in Leicestershire, To celebrate the 100 year Anniversary of guiding (1910-2010) the groups decided, following a presentation on SOS that they would send 100 parcels to our troops, and within just a few weeks they have handed that amount over with a few more to follow! The welcome we get there is second to none and the girls are a pleasure to meet with, they have put so much thought into the parcels and they were all weighed and expertly packed, so I didnt need to do anything other than check and seal, so thankyou all so much. The interest the girls have shown in SOS and the jobs etc the troops do has been amazing, we took along a lovely young squaddie and the he was asked some very mature questions from such young ladies, the fact also that hardly any of them have any forces connections made their contributuion all the more special, girls, leaders, parents, what can i saty except thank you so very much on behalf of SOS and our Brave troops'

Sock Shop

Sincere thanks to www.shopsock.co.uk who have very kindly donated 432 pairs of heat retaining socks to Marie in Truro.

In The News

A mother's pride
Chichester Today - Bath,England,UK
"Support our Soldiers has been a complete Godsend," adds Terri, who helps Hilary. "I feel less useless because I am bringing them some home comforts and ...

Parents box clever to help British soldiers
Lancashire Evening Post - Preston,England,UK
But volunteering for charity Support Our Soldiers has helped, with Brian admitting: "We need something to keep us occupied." And Val adds: "How other mums ...

An Appeal for Christmas parcels for soldiers has received an "excellent" response from Rotherham folk. Tracy Mounsey (45), of Dinnington, whose son is a serviceman, launched the Support Our Soldiers campaign last week and has been flooded with offers of help...

29th September - Models March through Manchester

Report from Carol - 'What a whirlwind time it has been since Fanny Gogh got in touch with me and offered to help after our parcels were stolen! The ‘Naked March for Troops’ in Manchester City Centre on Tuesday 29th September raised £600 in just two hours. A big Thank you to Fanny  and the wonderful group of girls who were amazingly brave to march topless given the time of year. I would also like to thank Snazaroo who very kindly donated all the body paint and Lynch Taxis who provided the whole party with transport to and from the city centre. The girls are raring to go for the next event and I can’t wait to see what they come up with for that one!'

See the march on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2lVbY4XULE

And the event was featured in the press literally across the world!  Coverage was given in - China, Argentina, India, Romania, Czech Republic, Bosnia Herzegovina, Hungary, Poland and France, plus lots of titles across the UK!  This is just one of them -

Topless models march through city centre
This is London - London,England,UK
The event was organised by artist Fanny Gogh, from Worsley, Greater Manchester, as part of a campaign run by Support Our Soldiers (SOS), a charity set up ...

Sunday 27th September - Indoor Car Boot Sale, The Priory Campus

Many thanks to Joy and her team who attended the car boot sale and to everyone who donated items.  £58.50 was raised on the day.

27th September - Chesterfield Car Boot Sale

And thank you to Carole in Chesterfield who raised £255 at a local car boot sale

Thank You Essex

The good people of Essex are certainly Supporting Our Soldiers!  I have so many thank yous!  Please don’t be offended if I’ve left you out – there are just so many that my brain cannot cope.  Firstly thank you to all who supported Quiz Night and the SOS stall at Ashingdon Carnival Show.  Also, Denise Deacon, Naomi Wilson, Sarah J and family, Lorraine Potkin and all at CEVAlogistics(Starbucks), Sandra, Mrs Groom, Sue Oughton, Canvey RBL and the many people who didn’t give a name.  There are so many Essex branches of the Women’s Institute who have contributed that I cannot name them all but I do thank them sincerely.  Special mention must be made though of Saffron Walden WI who have only 20 members but made up 14 lovely boxes, Joy Pinder and her ladies from Chelmsford and Avril Taylor from Mile End (Colchester) WI who has arranged donation of goods from every local Supermarket and also a collection of goodies from her members and has not finished yet!  We spent a lovely morning at Stanway Green Lodge, a residential care home, where we helped with the packing of 16 lovely boxes decorated by the residents.  This was the scene that greeted us at Laindon Community Centre:

So a huge thank you to manager Jim Mather and the members, Basildon Council and Dave (pictured) – an Arnheim veteran who suggested the collection.

 October is also going to be a busy month – several more Women’s Institute contributions to collect and lots of Christmas boxes from many individuals and groups.  So once more, a sincere thank you to Essex for your support.

Brenda – SE Essex Area Coordinator.

Soroptimist International Ashton Under Lyne

Our sincere thanks to members of Soroptimist International Ashton Under Lyne who very kindly presented over 30 beautifully assembled care packages for the boys and girls in Afghanistan.  Special thanks to Ann Winstanley for all her hard work in organising the Appeal.

Saturday 26th September - Peterhead FC Collection for SOS

Report from Debra - 'The sun really did shine for us on Saturday 26th September when we fundraised at this game. Peterhead FC do not normally get involved with collections and fund raising events but the Chairman, Roger Morrison allowed us to do this because he felt it was a very worthy cause. So grateful thanks are extended to him. We raised £222.00 + pounds in an hour at the turn styles. Two of the collection boxes went to a  function in the evening with the girls, I have not collected them yet. Absolutely delighted with this result and thanks very much to Emma, Jade, Maggie, Amanda, Rachael, Natalie and Jennifer for their time and charm in persuading punter's to part with their money'

25th September - Store Collection Asda Pudsey

Well this was certainly an eventful collection, disrupted just slightly by the visit of Peter Andre to the store!  Rather than regular shoppers Asda was packed with Peter's fans!  Dispite that we managed to collect a trolley and a half of parcel fillers and £239.64 through donations and merchandise sales. Our sincere thanks to Sandra, all the Asda staff and to Judith for their wonderful help on the day, to everyone who gave so generously, and to Peter who's agreed to donate a special signed item for our ball in March!

23rd September - Tea Dance Tower Ballroom Birmingham

Report from Natalie - 'The tea dance was a huge success, thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.  We had 25 prizes for the raffle, many kindly donated to us and we were literally rushed off our feet selling tickets.  Over 2,500 were sold raising a grand total of £402!  Our sincere thanks to Peter Martin who organised the event and to everyone who came along on and participated on the day.'

In The News...

Salfordonline News
When fighting for your country, these are one of the most comforting things for squaddies and the coalition forces to receive, and we thoroughly applaud this campaign. Related Links. For more on the Support Our Soldiers campaign ...

Weddings Abroad - Destination Weddings: UK Military Get Chance to ...
By Karen
The UK's leading social networking and relationships web site for members of the armed forces, forcespenpals.co.uk, has joined forces with the Support our Soldiers Charity and Chocorococo to offer a free wedding to one lucky member ...

Appeal to support British soldiers Lewes Today
Kate McMahon is the local organiser for charity Support Our Soldiers the nonpolitical group founded in 2003 by two mums whose sons had been deployed to Iraq ...

IHRSA Industry News: Cardiff Women's Health Club Sends Parcels To ...
By IHRSA
“A city fitness club is teaming up with the Support Our Soldiers charity to collect 150 parcels to send to Welsh service personnel in Afghanistan. Energie Fitness For Women member Annie Monnox mentioned to the club's owners Jean and ...

Cardiff women's health club sends parcels to soldiers in Afghanistan
WalesOnline - Cardiff,UK
A CITY fitness club is teaming up with the Support Our Soldiers charity to collect 150 parcels to send to Welsh service personnel in Afghanistan. ...

Shoebox appeal for armed forces
The Star - Sheffield,England,UK
"The positive effect a parcel or a letter has on the morale of our troops should not be ... The boxes can be sent to the Support Our Soldiers head office at ...

Saturday 19th September - Coffee Morning Hereford

The coffee morning very kindly organised by Liz in Hereford raised the grand sum of £272.20  Many thanks to everyone who went along to the event and gave so generously.

Friday 18th September - NE Scotland Christmas Parcel Appeal Launch

The mother of a north-east soldier launched a local appeal last night aimed at spreading seasonal cheer to troops across the world this Christmas.

Debra Millburn, whose son Michael has been fighting in Afghanistan, has kick-started the north-east’s Support Our Soldiers campaign. The Press & Journal

12th & 13th September - Bagpack Bromyard Co-Op

The bagpack kindly organised by Liz in Hereford raised the wonderful sum of £517.29 on the Saturday and £262.71 on the Sunday.  Sincere thanks to the local Cadets for all their help and to everyone who contributed over the weekend.

11th, 12th & 13th September - RBL Bikers Rally, Millom, Cumbria

Sincere thanks to Iddy and everyone of the RBL Bikers who made us feel so welcome at their rally in Millom.  We raised £203 thanks to everyone's generosity.  It really was a wonderful weekend, highlighted by a drum head service on the Sunday which was very moving indeed, a very fitting tribute to our fallen heroes.

Local Prison Officers support Frontline Troops

Ex British Soldier, Andy Lyne of Anston, a local prison officer has again made a fantastic effort in his support for our frontline troops.  Andy recently started a collection and collated over 80 shoes boxes with the help of generous local people from Dinnington, Kiveton and surrounding areas.  Vicky Watts & Peter Douglas of Watts Estates Agents in Dinnington were a fantastic help allowing their offices to be used as a drop off point. Andy delivered more than 80 boxes to Rotherham “Support Our Soldiers” Area Coordinator, Tracy Mounsey of Dinnington.

“I was absolutely thrilled to be contacted by Andy and was overwhelmed at the efforts Andy and all the local people have made in support of our Servicemen & woman.  My son Cpl Mounsey has very recently returned from active duty in Afghanistan.  He was a recipient of an SOS care parcel and said “it feels great knowing that people at home, care and are thinking of us all”. 

The parcels will be used as part of the Christmas Parcel Appeal that will be going to our troops on the front line over the next couple of months.

BUPA Great North Run

Our sincere thanks to Suzanne who ran the Great North Run on behalf of Support Our Soldiers and raised around £300.  Suzanne is the girlfriend of Glenn & Elaine in Morpeth's son. This was her first ever run which she completed in 2 hrs 3 mins and 19 secs.  So a wonderful result and we're very grateful to her indeed.

Sunday 6th September - Bradford Bulls vs Salford City Reds

Well sadly, due to an incident beyond anyone's control, the Parachute Display Team didn't make their drop in to the ground with the match ball, but we did have a fantastic day.  The collection from the very generous supporters raised £1,257.98 plus a further £129 was raised from merchandise sales.  Sincere thanks to Bradford Bulls for allowing us to do the collection, to 4 Para for all their support and to our wonderful team for all their help on the day.

Fundraising drive starts at Bulls' final home match
Bradford Telegraph Argus - Bradford,England,UK
This will be the seventh year campaign founder and Bingley mum Karen Webster has masterminded sending festive cheer to troops overseas. ...

Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th September - Victory Show Leicester

Report from Amanda - "Well, this year the sun shone on us and what an experience we had, camping out Afghan style !! Home was a an 12x12 tent, with no mod cons ie it was exactly that ....a tent and i was informed , no they dont come with ground sheets !! So there we were 6 ladies and 2 lads who are in the ACF, roll mats and sleeping bags at the ready, good job we were travelling light, with no change of clothes as space was certainly limited ! Our food for the weekend ( we arrived friday morning till sunday evening) was MoD ration packs, seems they are meant to last 24 hours, but guess who had almost demolished hers by 7pm, yep yours truly. After a slow start we got the hang of the burners etc, indeed Helen was renamed Pyra for the event as she proved a dab hand at fire starting and before the night closed in we had had a hot meal and got a camp fire going. Our intention there was to raise awareness and as all taking part live as re enactors we hadnt taken merchandise to sell or aimed to raise funds there however the 'germans' in the next field, charged people to take photo's of themselves on their vehicles and handed us £57.00 at the end of the weekend. So thank you all with KOMMANDANT 1, We also collected lots of items for our parcels as we asked people to bring us welfare parcels, the contents of which are now winging their way to the sandpit. We had no mobiles, ipods, make up and only basic toiletries and we took no money so we had to scrounge whatever we could or rely on 'donations' of goodies , and hey, in came the Household cavalry !! james and jules you were stars, they came with crisps and chocolate and fruit juice and treated us to icecreams on sunday !  Roger Moore ( yep that is his name !) also brought us goodies including some bread, let me tell you it really brought home what it must be like to be at a FOB in the sandpit !! We slept fairly well, the grass wasnt to uncomfortable at least not till you tried to get up, and washing with wet wipes and limited water was awful, makes you appreciate your bathroom ! We managed to 'borrow' some chairs during day two and a picnic table and also collect wood for our fire, and we got hold of some army cot beds, so we had a kip in those !! it was very noisy there and sleep was limited, we felt shattered after the weekend, our poor  troops must work on auto pilot out there. Lots of people took away sos literature and we had a few new families group members come aboard. It was fun and hard at the same time and it definately made us all realise , how very strong and brave our troops are , and the fact that they go without  all those items we all take for granted, leaves me full of admiration and pride for them. Sadly it seems i became a celeb for the wrong reasons ha ha i LOVED the biscuits brown and the mushroom spread !!! the lads from the recruiting teams went away with pics of me tucking in saying no one would believe it !! So i would just like to thank,Helen, Karol, Dee, Sophie and Sam, matt and jack for being coeorced into another of my mad ideas and for taking part, sticking to the rules, despite the temptations, ( we were a stones throw from the bar, burger van and market) and raising support and awareness of our very brave troops on deployment. Pre deployment training starts in march .............. "

Vulcan's bombing run is highlight of Leicestershire war show
Leicester Mercury - Leicester,England,UK
Among those taking part were a group led by Amanda Crowden, from charity group Support our Soldiers, who camped out in support for British soldiers in ...

Saturday 5th Septmber - Keighley Show

Despite gale force winds and rain, we had a good day at Keigley Show, raising £346.99 through tombola, donations and sale of merchandise.  We met some lovely people and would like to thank everyone who gave their support.  Many thanks too to Mandy for all her help and for literally hanging on in there!

Stoke Council Support Our Soldiers

Report from Pauline - 'Donations flooded in following a recent appeal by Anjii Brown from the Benefits Office at Stoke Council. Staff from various departments got involved, including Benefits Office, Crematorium, Regent Centre, Swift House, Transport Section, Bentilee and Stoke Catholic Churches, Cromer Road and Neighbour Hood Departments.   Our car was overflowing with lots of boxes that will be going out to the frontline troops in Afghanistan as part of Stoke-on-Trents contribution to 'Support our Soldiers' Anjii whose son is a former Royal Marine got behind the scheme with a vengance and organised the collections. She has said that she was 'very happy with what we've collected. This is the second time that she has contacted me to come and pick up the items and has also arranged a drop off point for the Christmas Appeal parcels. Well done to everyone involved and a special thanks to Anjii for organising everything.'

August 2009

Monday 31st August - Pyreatz MCC Fun Day - Woodbottom WMC Shipley

We were kindly invited to attend the Pyreatz MCC Fun Day by Julian of the Legion Riders and what a wonderful day it turned out to be.  From a relatively small crowd we raised £246.90 which we were delighted with. We met some wonderful people, were invited to lots more events, and best of all we now have a Christmas Parcel bike ride arranged.  From a thought to finalised arrangements in less than an hour!  Sincere thanks to Julian, to Maria and to everyone at the Woodbottom for all their kindness and hospitality, and to everyone who contributed on the day. 

Saturday 30th August - Charity Car Wash

Report from Maria - 'Thanks to all the girls and ladies that helped at the car wash on Sunday 30th August.  Despite the fact that it was raining we still managed to raise just over £84.00.  I think we got wetter than the cars!'

Thursday 28th August - Sponsored Gaping Ghyll Descent by Debbie M

Our sincere thanks to Debbie who today completed the infamous Gaping Ghyll descent and raised £400 for Support Our Soldiers. 

This is Debbies report - ' 5 o’clock alarm goes off, yes 5 in the morning, we only ever see this time of day if there’s a plane involved and sunshine at the end of it. We then have to drive for 1hr and half, walk for the same about of time all to be winched down a hole in the earth!! Can you tell I was looking forward to it! But all in a good cause I tell myself. Off we go layered, waterproofed and sandwiches packed. The walk when we arrived was beautiful but not for the casual stroller, walking boots a must. Weather didn’t know what to do and our coats were on and off several times! Once at the top of the moor we registered with the craven pothole club ready for our decent (my OH Kevin did it too) Bless him he held my hand right up to climbing into the chair.  Then I held my breath and closed my eyes but only for a moment, the rock face was so close you could touch it. My stomach churned and I said a few expletives but only to myself! The hole opened up in to a massive cavern with the deafening sound of falling water. The further down I went the wetter I got, it felt as if you were actually travelling through the waterfall but amazingly it was just the spray. Once at the bottom the sight was spectacular, the main shaft is 340 ft deep with a massive waterfall dropping down over 100ft. After a short tour by one of the members of the pothole club and photos I got back into the chair ready for my ascent. Well it truly was an amazing experience, not to be missed but definitely not for the faint hearted! So thank you so much to all my sponsors and to my hubby Kevin for being there with me.'

Cathedral to stage Festival of Remembrance 2009
Members of the Support our Soldiers (SOS) have stepped in to ensure a festival would be held on Monday, November 9, and today announced they had secured the cathedral as the venue. Amanda Crowden, from the charity, said: “We were ...
Charity News

Thieves Steal Goods Donated for Soldiers

CARE boxes destined for British troops currently fighting in Afghanistan have been stolen in Wigan... Wigan Today

Saturday 15th August - 64th Anniversary of the end of WW2

Our sincere thanks to Bill Kenely, now aged 84, who very kindly gave Peter in Exeter a copy of a letter thanking Bill for support given in the WW2 campaign.  The letter is signed by Major General Nicholson.

Saturday 15th August - SOS at Yapton Fair

Many thanks to Terri, Neville and their son Darren for helping Hilary with the SOS stall at the Yapton Fair.  As well as collecting donations the team asked people to write messages of support and were overwhelmed with the response. 

Many thanks too to everyone who has handed handmade cards to Hilary recently.  A special mention must be given to Ellen Robbins for the continual supply of beautiful cards, these really are appreciated. 

Teenager collects donations for soldiers in Afghanistan

CHARITY certainly begins at home for one kind teenager. Georgette Roach, from Great Barr, has spent part of her school holiday collecting donations for soldiers in Afghanistan.

The 15-year-old read an article in the Birmingham Mail about city mum Natalie Chambers’ efforts to raise morale among the troops by sending them parcels...

Read the full article in the Birmingham Mail

Marston Green Children Find Way to get Parcels to our Troops

NURSERY school children who were told they could not send parcels to troops in Afghanistan have had their prayers answered by staff at Selly Oak Hospital.

Youngsters from Wellies Nursery, in Marston Green, packed presents for Great Barr soldier Tyler Christopher when they heard he had been seriously injured in Afghanistan. But when they went to the post office they were turned away because they did not have the soldier’s confidential service number... Read the full article in the Birmingham Mail.

Bromsgrove Update

Report from Maria ' The last weeks in Bromsgrove has been rather busy.  Afterreceiving a call from a lovely lady called Caroline, I went to collect the items she had brought for parcels.  This was the largest single amount I have ever seen and there is enough food, crisps etc to do at least 20 boxes.  Thank you to this very kind lady who discovered SOS whilst having her bloods taken at the doctors and asking the Phlebotomist, Heidi what her 2 Mercian Wristband was all about.  Heidi has helped SOS on a continual basis and passed Caroline onto me.   

On Saturday 15th August Bromsgrove Rovers Football Club held the first match of the season in Memory of Pte Robbie Laws, he was killed last month in Afghanistan at only 18 years of age.  A minutes silence was held at the start of the match and Robbies family and friends walked out onto the pitch.  Irene sold SOS merchandise and Heidi's son Pte Joshua Moody and Sylvias grandson Pte Thomas Barrett stood at the gate with SOS collection tins, netting a fine total of £132.20.

Thank you to Sylvia, Chris, Liz and Pam for all their hard work at Sainsburys on Friday 21st August.  Sainsburys had sadly double booked so we couldn't do both days.  However we did collect £310.26 which is fantastic and will enable SOS Bromsgrove, to feed Op Herrick 11.

A huge thank you to Tora and Jack Wilkes. 

During their school holidays they took a trolley round to all their neighbours and as you can see from the picture they collected lots of food etc. 

Well done both and thanks to mom Claire for allowing them to do this.

Yougsters fill 30 parcels for troops
Bromsgrove Standard - Bromsgrove,England,UK
TWO BROMSGROVE youngsters organised a collection around their neighbourhood for the Support Our Soldiers (SOS) shoebox appeal and notched up enough items to ...  

Phil Pilmots Frontline Afghan Diary

Read Phil's latest entry in the Bromsgrove StandardPhil is due home on r&r shortly so we'd like to say welcome home Phil, well done and hope you enjoy a well deserved rest with your family.

Store workers send boxes to Afghan troops

FOUR women, one supermarket, and 200 boxes of goodies for Geordie soldiers in Afghanistan. That’s the pledge from these women who work together at Sainsbury’s in Washington, and all have close relatives serving on the frontline. The generous workers filled this huge pile of shoeboxes full of sweets, cigarettes, magazines and other goodies for their loved ones. And the parcels will also delight scores of other men and women fighting in war-torn Helmand Province this summer.

The store workers didn’t even know so many of their colleagues also had loved ones in the Army, and only found out when Sainsbury’s decided to run the shoebox appeal.

Then, with customers’ help, the store filled some 200 boxes full of creature comforts for soldiers - and the number is still growing.  Erika Bowman, who works in the cash office, has a son Cpl Mark Bowman serving in the Light Dragoons, who are regularly in the thick of the action. Mrs Bowman, 51, of Washington, said: “He’s been out there since April and he’s due home on R&R. We really look forward to seeing him. “I send all sorts of little things like nuts, biscuits and tablets, all the little things they ask for. I didn’t even know so many people here also have relatives out there.”

Angela Palas, who works in HR at the store, has a nephew Robin Wareham, 26, serving in the catering core. She said: “I’ve been doing shoeboxes at home as well. I send shower gel, socks, toothbrushes. Not chocolate though, because it melts!

It’s great to be able to help.”

Anne-Marie Gordon, who works in the fresh food department, has a nephew Craig Hornby, 20, serving in the Rifles. The 54-year-old said: “It’s nice for them to get things from home. But he’s very happy. He’s got a girlfriend and I think he enjoys it.”

And Ivy Muncaster, of Birtley, Gateshead, whose nephew is serving in the Light Dragoons, said: “It’s nice to know we can send things out there for them.

“As soon as I heard about this project I had to get involved. “Hopefully these boxes will let them all know that everyone back home is thinking about them.”

To donate a shoebox, contact Margaret Cook at Sainsbury’s on (0191) 497 2000.

FHM Cards and Magazines

Our sincere thanks to Bauer Media who have very kindly donated seven large boxes of magazines including FHM and Empire to send out to the boys in Afghanistan.  Plus 2,600 packs of playing cards for our Christmas Parcel Appeal and several tubs of chewing gum.  We're absolutely delighted to be able to forward these items on, and again many thanks to everyone involved at Bauer Media and to Sandra Bolton who has organised this.

Preston Update

Brian and Val would like to say thank you very much to the staff at Boxes and Packaging Manchester for their donation of over 300 flat pack cartons for the morale parcels for the girls and boys.   We received a kind donation of 20 rolls of brown parcel tape from William Moore & Son ( Preston ) Ltd. These have been a fantastic help with the boxes!   Val and I would also like to send many many thanks to Tony Astley of Moss Side Leyland for his most generous donation of 8 parcels which we have sent on immediately.   Thanks to you all.  

Call for new Bromsgrove Memorial

THE CHAIRMAN of Bromsgrove District Council has called for the town to have a new war memorial in a public space so residents have a place to go to pay their respects to all those who have fallen in conflicts over the years and give thanks to those currently serving with the armed forces... Bromsgrove Standard

Phil Pilmots Frontline Afghan Diary

As many of you know Marias son Phil is writing a diary for the Bromsgrove Standard.  This is his latest entry, and as you'll see life is anything but easy.  Please do take a look.  Sending Phil and all those on the frontline our very, very best and let's hope for a safe and speedy return home for them all.

Frontline Diary

Three Peaks Challenge

Many thanks to James Walker and Mo Jabber will be undertaking the Three Peak Challenge, climbing Ben Nevis, Scarfel Pike and Snowdon within 24 hours, on the weekend of the 15th of August to raise money for SOS. Anyone who would like to sponsor them can do so at http://www.justgiving.com/JayWalker/

Ainsdale ex-soldier's Three Peaks Challenge bid
Southport Visiter - Southport,UK
Ainsdale man James Walker, 26, is set to take on the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for Support Our Soldiers. The former army soldier spent eight ...

Papercrafting with Dawn Bibby on QVC

Sincere thanks to Dawn of the QVC programe Papercrafting with Dawn Bibby who has been asking her viewers to make up hand made cards to send out to Afghanistan. The response has been tremendous and four large boxes of beautiful already delivered to us.  Thank you to everyone who's contributed, the cards really will be appreciated.

Leeds Building Society back the boys

Joyce and Phil have been working very closely with the Leeds Building Society South Shields and North East branches who are very kindly making up parcels and accepting donations on behalf of SOS. Our sincere thanks to Joanne Butler for fronting this campaign and to all staff and customers for their continued support.

Boxing clever for our boys
Shields Gazette - South Shields,England,UK
Leeds Building Society in Fowler Street, South Shields, is collecting shoeboxes for the Support Our Soldiers (SOS) charity. The idea to collect the boxes at ...

Support Our Soldiers backs York Debt of Honour Campaign

The York Press are calling for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to overhaul the way it compensates military personnel left physically ravaged and mentally scarred by serving their country in war zones – and bringing an end to the turmoil, stress and heartache they and their families often have to endure.

Debt Of Honour campaign gathering pace (From York Press)
Among those backing our drive is the York branch of Support Our Soldiers, a charity formed by the mothers of two serving soldiers to encourage and provide more backing for British troops in Afghanistan. A Support Our Soldiers ...
York Press | News - http://www.thepress.co.uk/news/

Sunday 9th August - Bingley Show

Well this was the 3rd show that we've attended and each year we think it can't get better, and it does!  A wonderful day helped no doubt by the glorious sunshine.  The crowds came out in force, and the SOS stall was inundated with visitors, many who had spoken to us last year and who came back to say hello and to buy more merchandise.  The teddy tombola 'sold out' in a matter of hours as did much of the stock.  We raised a grand total of £1,307.14 so a tremendous day all round.  Sincere thanks to our team - Mandy, Sammi, Judith, Anita and David for all their help with the stall, to Joyce and Phil who travelled all the way from Sunderland to lend a hand, to the Bingley Show committee for inviting us back and for providing the stall free of charge and to everyone who came along to say hello, made donations or bought goods from us.  We really were humbled by the wonderful and generous support.

Aberdeen and North Scotland SOS News

Report from Debra - " Many thanks to Janet my local right hand lady and a local lad Cameron for running our SOS stall at the Cruden Bay Scooter/Biker Ralley, on Saturday, 1st August 2009, whilst I was away visiting family. The weather to say the very least was appalling, for those who don't know, Cruden Bay is on that bit of Scotland that juts out furthest into North Sea, next stop Norway and Saturday the weather did its worst with torrential rain and winds. There are no photo's because Janet said she looked like a bedraggled Sheep dog and she wasn't having them posted, lol. Thanks also to The Red House hotel for their continued support and the Biker's who allowed them to pitch our stall in the function hall. They raised £160 from the sale of merchandise and donations.

I would also like to say thank you for "SOS FEVER" that has swept over the village. The whole community is doing something for SOS.  Their support of my son Mikey and Janet's son Lee is phenominal they have celebrity status. Everywhere I look there is someone wearing a T shirt, stickers are in cars, peoples windows, requests for badges are hard to keep up with, collection box's are in every hotel and the golf club.The local sheltered unit "Cantlay Court" are filling a box a week, the local Nursing Home "Sunnybank" are writing letters for the 9000 and wheelchairs are sporting SOS stickers. 

And many thanks too to Peterhead Inner Wheel for their very kind donation of £100. A real boost to the funds.

Our next event is an Armed Forces themed Disco/Ceilidh/Stovey night. We have two dates for consideration one in October the other in November. I now have a healthy team of volunteer's in approx 150 mile radius (I cover a big area) and we are organising relay parcel collections. I'm off to meet some people at a halfway point inland on Saturday to pick up parcels, that will be a 100 mile round trip for both of us, that's dedication. I am hoping that some of these people will become A/C's themselves in the future but for the time being they are happy to continue as they are. Before I close I would like to wish Cameron all the best as he has decided to join the Army. We are so proud of you. Lots more exciting news to be released soon. Debra - A/C NE Aberdeenshire and North Scotland"

And our sincere thanks to Debra who's only been on board for a short time but really has made a big difference in the area and provided lots of people with the opportunity to support our boys and girls.

Mum gives Troops a Taste of Home

Natalie in the news - RECENT tragedies in Afghanistan have led to a surge in support for one Birmingham charity which supports brave soldiers and their families... Birmingham Mail

Monday 3rd August - Beat The Retreat

Mike and Maureen held a stand at the Southwell 'Beating the retreat' event. This was Southwell's first event in support of the Armed Forces and was well attended. The event ran from 6pm to 8pm and consisted of 2 Military bands on the arena playing a selection of military tunes. Many other Forces support charities and the mandatory Hot Dog and Ice Cream stalls were in attendance. The weather was good and the sun even came out. A lot of interest was show by the public for the work of SOS and we could have sold many many union jack badges had we had them! £17 was raised from the small amount of merchandise we had. It was good to meet the other charities at the event and new friends and contacts were made which will help with discovering new events we can attend in the future.

Saturday 1st August - Red Paw Memorial Dedication

Joy and Karen were honoured to be invited to the Red Paw Memorial Dedication at the National Memorial Arboretum on Saturday. This included a service and dedication for the new Memorial for the fallen Army Dog Handlers during the Northern Ireland Conflict.  It was a very moving day, a real privledge to be their amongst such very proud people.  Our sincere thanks to Nigel, retired RAF MP Dog Handler for the kind invitation and to everyone who made us feel so welcome on the day.  Sincere thanks too to the team who held a raffle at the British Legion Club after the dedication and donated half the proceeds, £105 to SOS. And finally humble thanks to Cath who presented us with commemorative medals and scrolls to mark the day.  It truly was a pleasure to be there.  Army Dog Unit NI

Wedding Competition

The Chocorococo Wedding Competition as featured on the Home page has received a great response.  In the press...

SOS wedding competition launched
Bromsgrove Standard - Bromsgrove,England,UK
The prize has been put together, on behalf of armed forces charity Support Our Soldiers (SOS), by Danny and Leslie Aimes from Chocorococo, which will be ...

Mums Backing the Frontline Troops

Maria and Lesley on BBC Midlands

Shop give away dream dress
Worcester News - Worcester,UK
It will be worn by the lucky lady who wins the £10000 wedding being given away by the charity Support our Soldiers. Charity volunteer Maria O'Ryan, ...

Plugstreet Project Belgium

We're delighted to have been contacted by Martin Brown who's undertaking the Plugstreet archaeological project in Belgium. This is a Great War themed project exploring sites around Comines-Warneton and Messines. 2007 saw the first fieldwork in Belgium, and built on investigations in the UK. The project is being led by members of No Man's Land - The European Group for Great War Archaeology and the Comines-Warneton Historical Society. Martin and the team have ordered Support Our Soldiers wristbands and baseball cap and will be wearing these throughout the dig.  If you'd like to follow their progress you can do so via this link  Their book Digging Up Plugstreet which is an account of their reseach to date is also available from Amazon via their blog page.  We wish Martin and the team good luck with the project and look forward to seeing photos soon!

Saturday 1st August - 3 Estates Festival Kings Norton

Many thanks to Natalie who raised £24 by holding a Name the Bear competition at the Festival on Saturday and £40 at a family barbecue last week.  Natalie would also like to thank Irene Flynn at Selly Oak's Cardiology Department for putting together six wonderful parcels with a promise of more to follow.

July 2009

Our thanks to...

Our sincere thanks to the following individuals and organisations who have given their kind support -

Beautifully made Cool Ties from Jayne Adams, Mrs P Wanstall, Audrey Gates and Lesley Dion

Parcels or parcel fillers from Aaron & Laura Maddox, Queensbury Juniors Under 10s, Claire Brookes, Major & Mrs M E Pritchard, Alasdair Redman & staff at Portnahaven Post Office, Isle of Islay, Carol Simpkins, Carole Pattinson, Donna Fraser, Lorna & Neil, Mrs K Tyrrell, The Sheehan Family, Miss A Smith, Lindsay & James, Judy & Alan Bishop, Bryan Adderley, Veronica Burton, Bryan Adderley, Mrs Perkins, Gaynor & Chris Thwaite, Jane Rees, J Beisner, The Foch Family, Mrs M Stanley, S & E Cornwall and Lindsey & Allen West

Paperback Books from Mrs Whitaker, Rob Chappell and Jennifer Davies

Get Well Cards or Messages of Support from Abigail Harris, Vicky Taylor, Helen Cardwell, Marie, Trudy & George Hillier, Dawn Winstanley, Fiona Louise Watson, Alex M Fernander Australia, Faye SOS, Cathy Cardwell, Debbie, Louise Cater, Kathy & Ian and Teena Burton

Used stamps from The Marine Society & Sea Cadets plus many others

Beautiful Hand made cards from Doreen Bettison, Karen Drew, Mrs D Andrews, Jean Symon, Jenny Hannah, Ellen Robins and Norma Willoughby.  A special thank you to the Arts & Crafts Centre, Albion St, Halifax for acting as collection point for cards and craft materials for Norma.

We'd also like to thank Hello magazine for supplying 30 copies of Hello, Tetleys for supplying four boxes of teabags, Bettys of Harrogate for a supply of Yorkshire Tea and Biersdorf UK for a huge supply of Nivea products for men and women.

All contributions really are much appreciated.

Thursday 30th July - Morrisons Penzance

Sue would like to thank staff and customers at Morrisons in Penzance for their wonderful support during the store collection.  £251.74 was raised plus lots of parcel fillers donated. Many thanks too to Julie, Caner and Neeve for all their help.

Support The British Troops Pin Badges Hit the Headlines

Saturday 25th July - York Charity Market

Cherrill had a successful day at the Charity Market in York raising £258. Many thanks to everyone who contributed towards this and a special thank you to Rosemary for her help on the day.

Saturday 25th July - Cowling Gala

Sincere thanks to Stevie C, presenter of Coming Out Tonight on Drystone Radion for featuring SOS on his show and for hosting an SOS stall at Cowling Gala which raised a grand total of £33.16.

Cool Ties for Summer - Hats for Winter

Many thanks to Freya and her team in Fuengirola for the wonderful ties and hats which have arrived safely in the UK.  These are a few words from Freya - "We are a group of British ex-pats living in and around Fuengirola, and we answered an appeal to knit woolly hats for the British Troops in Afghanistan.  We have now finished 100 of them and are sending them to the UK to be shipped onto Afghanistan via “Support Our Soldiers”.  We have also made clothes for the children and “cool-ties” for the soldiers. Offex  in Benalmadena have very kindly agreed to transport them Free of Charge to the UK. As a group, we would like to thank local people for their kindness in donating yarn and money to enable us to buy yarns for our next project, which will be making hats, booties, gloves and blankets for the Premature Baby Unit at Malaga University Hospital, while continuing with the woolly hats.

The Gunners Club and Army Recruiting Team Sunderland

Our sincere thanks to the Royal Artillery Gunners Club and the Army recruiting team in Sunderland who have joined up with Joyce and Phil to support our boys and girls in Afghanistan.  In just one week they've put together 55 parcels plus further parcel fillers and donations.  An absolutely wonderful response for which those who receive the parcels will be very grateful.  Special thanks too to the Sunderland Echo who not only provided constant coverage of our projects but are also supplying copies of the paper to keep local lads in touch with what's happening at home.

Delivering the news to Afghan front line
Sunderland Echo - Sunderland,England,UK
The city's Army Recruitment office teamed up with charity Support Our Soldiers (SOS) and the Royal Artillery "Gunners' Club" to collect shoeboxes full of ...

Burton on Trent News

Burton news from BurtononTrent and Staffordshire Support Our Soldiers
Faye Powell has recently taken on the role of Burton area co-ordinator for the charity Support Our Soldiers. She is the first person to take the position and is trying to create awareness of the charity among the community...

Army in Yorkshire Day 18th July

It was our pleasure to once again attend the Army in Yorkshire Day at Imphal Barracks, York.  Thankfully the rain held off this year, and a great day was had by all.  A total of £463.41 raised.  Sincere thanks to Major (Ret'd) Plaistow for inviting us to attend, to Cherrill, Bev, Mandy, Kat, Becki, Sammi and Beth for all their help and to everyone who came along to visit us.

Saturday 18th July - Raffle in Porthcawl

The raffle organised by Heather in Porthcawl raised the grand total of £141.56.  Many to thanks to Heather for organising this and to everyone who contributed.

Help in Nottingham

Mike And Maureen McCormack who live in Nottingham and have a serving son with one Afghanistan tour behind him and one to come in September, ran two stands at local 'Armed Forces Day' events in June.

Mike and Maureen support the UK National Defense Assoc. This assoc campaigns for an increase in Government defense spending and ran these stands in support of UKNDA and SOS. They were joined by Andrea & Dave H (son in the Marines) and Dave T (retired RAF Sqn Ldr) on both occasions. The first stand at the St Ann's event in Nottingham - The event was well represented by Armed Forces support organisations, the Army team and local traders but the public turn out could have been better. Better luck next year St Ann's! We took £67.00 for SOS on the day and recruited 40 supports for UKNDA not bad given the event was only open from 1pm to 5pm.

Event number two - was the main Nottingham 'Armed Forces Day' at Wollaton Park, Nottingham, this event was over two days 26th & 27th.  The event was very well attended by the public and had a fanatic number of displays, traders stalls, associations and fun things to do for the kids. Their stand was in the Veterans tent with other forces organisations: British legion, Forrester's Assoc. British Limbless Ex-Solders Assoc. REME to name a few. They had a great time, although a busy time and said it was good to meet and share with the other stands and the many dignitaries that came to look around. Their stall had a constant stream of people and could have sold a lot more SOS items, they ran out of most items by the end of the first day. So lessons learned for next year. All in all it was a fantastic time and they took nearly £300.00 and gained 330 UKNDA supporters, and many well wishes and gratitude for the work of SOS. Well done to all who helped and supported our efforts at these events and our sincere thanks to Mike for all that he's done for us.

Northallerton & District Lioness Club

Our sincere thanks to members of Northallerton & District Lioness Club who raised over £700 for SOS at their recent Coffee Morning/Afternoon Tea.  Thank you to everyone who attended the event and contributed so generously.

A Tapestry of Verse

A Tapestry of Verse by Dennis Shrubshall is a varied and wide-ranging collection of poems rhymes and odes which explore life's rich tapestry. "Essex Bard" Dennis Shrubshall draws on his personal memories, his time as a National Serviceman, his friendships and his musings on comedy and romance. Proceeds from the sales will be divided between Combat Stress, BLESMA and The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association  Visit Silverwood Publishing to order your copy.

SOS Leicester

Update from Amanda -

" Many thanks to the Westcotes pub Leicester and the Red Lion, Sapcote.

Pub owner Cliff Morgan,himself an ex falklands veteran ( RN) kindly offered to fund raise on behalf of Support Our Soldiers after, one of his managers Andy Boaz met with me and invited us to hold our Forces Families group at the Westcotes on a permanant basis, Andys son is in the RAF and is due to return to Afghan this year.

The Red Lion held a quiz night which raised £230.00 and the Westcotes held a pool/darts tournament and raffle.  Cliff also donated monies from the gaming machines ( Oakey Taverns ) the total amount raised was £563.51 which was presented to me at an evening drinks and buffet event. The support from Cliff and Andy has been tremendous and very much appreciated and I look forward to many lovely group meetings at the Westcotes.

I'd also like to say thankyou to the pupils,staff and parents of Ratby Primary School who raised a wonderful £116 at their year 6 leaving concert and donated it to Support Our Soldiers, it is very much appreciated and I would like to wish all the year 6 pupils all the best as they move into senior school.  

Thanks also go to Helen Gray whom I know has been directing a lot of donations and interest to SOS, since we joined 'forces' earlier in the year.  Helen lost her dear son Christopher in Afghanistan in 2007, yet works tirelessly to fund raise for Forces charities and raise awareness of our troops, Helen you are an amazingly courageous woman xx"

14th July 2009 - 9,000 Thanks Appeal Launch

We've been literally overwhelmed these past few days with people wanting to show their support for our boys and girls. And so we've decided to channel this support in a way that everyone can join in with, that costs only a few pence, and most importantly won't overwhelm the systems.

So we're pleased to announce our 9,000 Thanks Appeal in which we invite you all to take part. The aim is to send a letter of thanks to every Serviceman or woman currently deployed in Afghanistan and to very simply say thank you. To take part and to say your thanks you please visit our 9,000 Thanks page.

support soldiers afghanistan messages support this is leicestershire
The Support Our Soldiers charity has been told it cannot send its normal number of parcels to Afghanistan because the amount of military equipment going out ...

Aquila Victrix Support Our Soldiers 9000 Thanks
Support Our Soldiers famous for its work in sending thousands of goodie parcels out to the guys on the frontline says that it is being overwhelmed at the ...

14th July 2009

The bodies of the eight British soldiers killed in Afghanistan last week were repatriated today.  As the crowds gathered in Wooton Bassett, Natalie was amongst them, her words speak volumes - "On Tuesday 14th July, My family and I went to Wootton Bassett for the Repatriation of the 8 Soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

We arrived there at 11am and I was surprised at the amount of people & press already there.  As the day drew on more and more people turned up bringing flowers, and personal tributes with them, some of which were placed at the War Memorial. The repatriation was due to start at 3.30pm but a policeman told the crowds, already lining the streets that it was being put back to 4.30pm at the earliest, not 1 person who was stood in the pouring of rain complained.

More and more people arrived and by 3.30pm the streets was full of people of all ages.British soldiers were arriving by the coach loads and wandering around amongst the crowds, who were shaking their hands, patting their backs as a show of support. At 4pm the old veterans and British legion members took up their positions of standard bearers and the Rifles and tank regiments formed a line either side of the road ready for the cortege.

Then at 4.30pm the bells of St Bartholomew’s church started to toll, and I’ve never heard such a large crowd go so silent and still so quick. Time seemed to stand still at this point and then the silence was broken by heartbreaking sobs and then clapping as the 8 hearses drove past. Family and friends threw flowers onto the hearses carrying their loved ones.

With around 4,000 people attending to show their support to the 8 fallen soldiers, it was a very emotional day, and one that made you stop and collect your thoughts for the families, but also a day that made you feel proud to say they are our British soldiers!"

Armourgeddon

Amanda recently spoke with Phil Hoskins of Armourgeddon re supporting SOS,  He had contacted her following a newspaper article and wanted to fund raise. Armourgeddon are a paint ball and tank battle centre, and today Amanda received a lovely letter to say they had raffled off a tank battle and enclosed a cheque for £175.00! Our sincere thanks to Phil and to everyone involved from www.amourgeddon.co.uk

British Telecom

Stephen Webley who works at the British Telecom Exchange in Bromsgrove has taken on SOS as a challenge. His best friend is Philip, Maria's son, currently on Op Herrick and this was his inspiration.  

Stegs, as Stephen is known has set up a DONATION STATION at several BT offices up and down the country and BT staff have very kindly been filling them with parcels items and food.  These are then sent to Afghanistan via Maria.  Stegs and his fiancee, Clare have been packing boxes and writing notes for our boys and girls which they then pass to Maria for sending. 

They have done a fantastic job and also involved a local school.  Stegs' mom, Ann, is a teacher at St Johns Middle School in Bromsgrove and Maria was invited to go and speak to the children about SOS.  They have also been donating food and sweets.  Maria also did a wristband project with them, 50p and a bag of sweets or post noodle in exchange for a band.  Then also asked the children to write letters to our troops on the blueys the post office kindly supplied her with.  The school have used this as part of english and the first batch of around 60 letters are now being read by Maria before she posts them over to Afghanistan.  They don;t require vetting but are a joy to read and many are hilarious.   Many thanks to Stephen Webley and Clare Rowen for all their hard work along with Mrs Ann Webley and the children at St Johns School in Bromsgrove.

July 4th Celebrations - Droitwich

Many thanks to Irene, her daughter Dana, James and June for manning the SOS stall at the American celebrations in Droitwich which raised £232.60.

  =

July 4th Asda Collection - Sunderland

Report from Joyce - "We had a very good day at Asda on Saturday.  Lots of people wanted to know more about SOS and we met with many families who either had loved ones currently out in Afghanistan or due to deploy shortly.We allso met some lads from The Sunderland (South) Detachment Durham Army Cadet Force, who when I asked if I could take a photo of them invited us back to thier meeting place where they were having an assessment day for the Cadets.  So we went with the banner and got some great photo's which will be published shortly We spoke to
thier Detachment Commander and  6 Platoon Sergeant who said they would love
to be involved in future events.  So a great day and £359.10 raised.  Thank you to Asda and everyone who contributed."

July 1st Coffee Morning Peterhead

The coffee morning organised by Debra was a great success with £107 raised.  Many thanks to everyone who attended for their kind contributions.

Update from Preston

Lots of positive news from Brian, our representative in Preston.  This is his report -

"A big thank you to the staff at B.A.E. systems  Warton site. We received a grand total of £110.85 made up from donations and merchandise sales. Well done every body. It is wonderful that we have your continuing support.  

We have two new supporters as introduced to us by Michaela. The Anchor pub in Lostock Hall nr. Preston collected £21.74 and we had parcel item donations also, Fantastic !!

Also on board is the Victoria Pub Lostock Hall, we received a donation of £8.50, thank you all so much.  

Welcome to Sandra Bolton of Southport who has collected a tremendous amount of goodies for the lasses, she has made up 25 parcels, an outstanding first effort, Well done.  

Thanks for the continuing support from Jackie Simpson from Burnley, she has brought over more parcel item donations.       

We have just received some toiletries for boxes from Vernon and Margaret Sanderson from Bamber Bridge nr. Preston, much appreciated.    

We have had more donations of cosmetics from Claire and her work colleagues at Boots Preston, also more from Lush, Debenhams cosmetics counter and new friends at Body Shop Preston. Thank you all !! There are going to be some very happy girls in sandy places when they receive all these goodies.    

After enquiring about items for the stall, Steve Dillon of Costumes4ushop of The Mall St. Georges Shopping centre Preston donated 3 large boxes of England flags, hats, scarves and other memorabilia, it will all be terrific parcel fillers for the lads, thanks very much.     

Thank you so much to Mr. Steve Bullock, organiser of the Leyland Transport Festival.  Michaela contacted him late last week and he kindly arranged for us to set up a stall in a very good position on the Festival Car park amongst all the exhibits. There were several Armed Forces vehicles on display close by which helped us tremendously. The stall was manned by Val, Michaela, Shireen, Chris and myself, with plenty of help from Michaela's daughter Joanne and our Grand daughter Charlotte. The weather was kind to us which was a bonus. We were busy all day selling an amazing amount of S.O.S. merchandise, plus fantastic cash donations The visitors of all ages were very generous.   We also had support from the Ship Inn Follies Entertainers who had just taken part in a truckpull of the Pope mobile. After this they still had the strength to  physically drag people in to see the stall. All in all it was a very succesful day, we collected an amazing £721.93.  Well done Leyland !!     

In The Press

Soldiers' families living in fear
Leicester Mercury - Leicester,England,UK
Amanda Crowden, of West Knighton, is the Leicestershire representative for the Support Our Soldiers charity. Her son Colin, 29, is to head out to ...

June 2009

Armed Forces Week Updates

Lytham Club Day & Stanley Park, Blackpool

Mel and her team were at Lytham Club Day and Stanley Park as part of the Blackpool Armed Forces Week celebrations.

Leicester - Report from Amanda

Along with Helen Gray ( mum of fallen Viking Chris Gray) and local councillor Chris Boothby,we organised a gala for AFD, it was a huge success and the weather held out for us untill mid afternoon, we held a short service of thanks for our troops and to remember those sadly no longer with us and then the Mayor of the Burough opened the fete, we had lots of stall,incl plants, sweet, jewellery and  tombolas. We were well supported by the army and cadets who set up displays and were most helpful on the day. Monies raised were split between,SOS, H4H and the VIKINGS Benevolent fund, who all recieved £500, and a further £120 was raised for Hols4Heroes with a teddy tombola, a fantastic day and evening was had by the residents of Ratby and everyone was all up for next year so i guess , Helen and I had better get to the drawing board for a bigger and better event next time !! Many thanks go to the following who without their help and donotions the event would not have been the great success it was Capt Benner,Cpl Brassington and Sgt 'H' Haldane, TA who not only provided tents and Gazebo's but erected and dismantled them too along with the fab display they put on themselves, Major Shorthose ACF, and c coy cadets with their climbing wall, the ATC,fire service,police esp the firearms team who put on a crowd pulling display of weaponary, karol, margaret,shaz,claire ,jackie and everyone who manned stalls etc, special thanks to paul mummery and his brother mark who joined us at 7am to put out tables,chairs etc etc and then manned the merchandise stall, thanks guys. Samworth Bros (Bradgate bakery) for providing free packs of sandwiches to feed the cadets we managed to feed the military lads too,Swithland spring water for free bottled water for everyone and Walkers crisp for the boxes of crisps which also added to the feeding of the troops. And lastly to thr Plough pub for the use of their facilities etc, sorry we drank you dry lol, !!! yep the pub ran out of beer !! Apologies if i have missed anyone out, all who took part and helped etc know how much we value your support and help, so grateful thanks to everyone xx

Enderby EYE - Flag flying for Armed Forces Day
Parcels and cash donations were collected for the Support our Soldiers charity which aims to boost the morale of British troops abroad by sending out gift packages and messages of support. Steve Parker works in the Community Safety Team ...

Southend on Sea - Report from Kelly

“On the 27th June both myself and my mum Bet represented SOS at the Armed Forces Day Event that was held at Southend On Sea.  Firstly I would like to say a big Thank You to my mum for helping me throughout the day, she was a star as always! The weather was very unpredictable on the day and we was dressed for all weathers with our SOS t-shirts, fleeces and even waterproof jackets in case of rain!  The day itself turned out to be glorious and we had a lovely view of Southend’s Pier in the sunshine!

Union Jack Flags were waved and the Band of the Adjutant General’s Corps played as veterans of historic conflicts joined active servicemen and women in a parade through the town centre, which finished at the end of the High Street.  Alongside Mayor Brian Smith, guest of honour and head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt met the heroes of today and yesteryear as they formed up in Royal Square following the parade down the High Street.

We received a brilliant response from everyone that attended, showing great interest in everything that SOS does and was even showed a few SOS pin badges that people had purchased through the website already. It was a hugely successful day and a total of £155.64 was collected and will be put to great use.  A huge Thank You to all of our Supporters at Southend.”

Woolaton Park, Nottingham

Sincere thanks to Mike and his family for manning the SOS stall at Woolaton Park and raising the magnificent sum of £364.50

Bradford - Report from Karen

"A fabulous weekend and our sincere thanks to Bradford Council who hosted the event and to everyone who came along to support our Servicemen and women, past and present.  The Drumhead Service on Sunday was particularly moving with all the Standards presented.  We met some wonderful people and raised the grand total of £835.27 over the two days.  Sincere thanks too to our team - Kat, Judith, Mandy and Bev for all their help manning the stall, it was very much needed and appreciated.

South Shields - Report from Kim and Joyce-

"National Armed Forces Day at Bents Park, South Shields. We had a great day on Saturday 27th June at Bents Park. Joyce, Phil and myself had our S.O.S. stand up and ready for all to see hoping to raise awareness of our lads over-seas and of course our charity.

As part of our S.O.S. stand we offered people the opportunity to take a moment of time to think of those brave men and women Britain has already lost in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was a little apprehensive about the balloon release as I didn't know what people would think about it. I need not have worried as EVERYONE thought it was a lovely idea.

Many people wrote their own messages along with the message already on the"Lest We Forget" cards, people thought that as it was an individual balloon release it gave them the chance to have their own moment to remember and then release the balloon when they were ready as a mark of respect. An emotional time.

It was lovely to see the men and women explaining the reason for the balloons to their children/grandchildren, then seeing how keen the children were to take part.
This lovely lad, Jake ( almost 3yrs of age ) was one of many taking time out with his mum to think about our loved ones who are no longer with their families.

A big thank you to everyone that paid for a balloon and raised funds whilst at the same time showing compassion for British troops. Kim and Joyce   Xxx

Barnsley - Report from Joy -

"Our Two Day Event at Asda Barnsley. What a wonderful weekend I spent in Asda, day one was to be a pack and collect day with RAF Cadets. Sadly this was not too good as many Cadets have been involved in other things and therefore my numbers were well down but we still raised £154.80.  

Day two was an outstanding success - we had a table with tombola, SOS merchandise and a huge collection bucket. People were queuing three deep to get to the table, we had lots and lots of support and wonderful comments about what we do. As the day progressed I knew we would end up totally clearing out the tombola but what I had not banked on was the amount of SOS merchandise we would sell, thank goodness I took plenty. The only item I sold out of were the wristbands and typically I chap was so desperate to buy one that he was tempted (not by me) to buy mine off my wrist!!! He did and was more than happy to pay over the actual price, what a nice chap.

Our day finished with the amount of £559, a brilliant result.   The two days combined raised a total of £713.80, so a massive success. I must thank my helpers, Jo,Wendy,Debs and AJ, without there help I would never have coped on Sunday. Also a big thank you to Asda, the Cadets and the people of Barnsley, again without their support we would not have been able go hold this event and our Servicemen and women would not have over £700 coming their way.   Thank you all, Joy A/C for Barnsley"

Bromsgrove - Report from Maria -

Our weekend kicked off with a Collection at Asda raising £624.78, thanks to Irene, Josie, Sylvia, Carol, Jayne, Jaynes mom and my mom, Heidi and Abi who all did a 2 hour shift.  Thankyou to all Asda customers who kindly donated.  

Next came Carnival Day. Thank you to Irene, Lynsay and friends who ran a tombola and awareness stall at the carnival whilst I cooked the buffet for saturday night along with the help of Wendy and my mom.  The tombola rasied £200.00.

The party on the night although a fabulous evening was had by all didn;t raise a huge amount after the expense of the DJ, Venue and buffet but still a profit of just over £100 in raffle ticket sales.  Philips friend Stephen Webley from BT made a DVD for us all to watch of regiments out in Afghanistan, a couple of inserts from letters BT have received from the boys and girls and a message from Philip on behalf of them all.  This was a total shock and had us all in tears.  Telling us from Afghanistan to have a fantastic evening,  I am a very proud mom.  It was great to see so many moms, dads and siblings there along with members of SOS. 

Balloon Release:  A fantastic turn out.  Fairytalesballoons organised the 348 balloons we needed, one to commererate every life lost in Iraq and Afghanistan since the start of the conflicts and all released by local school children, many sporting SOS tee shirts.  The band played on the band stand, our Town Cryer came along and rather loudy compared the event.  That really grabbed the attention I can tell you, thankyou to Kevin Ward for his bell and loud voice.  Chris Scurrel, the chairman of Bromsgrove Council gave a wonderful heartfelt speech.  Little old me, although flagging big time by then said a few words and many thank you's.  40 Regular soldiers from Selly Oak kindly gave up their Sunday afternoon off to attend, many have been looked after by SOS in the past which was great.  Thank you so much to them and for being so fantastic chatting to the public and children.  Bill the DJ from the party came to the rescue when we at the 11th hour discoverd that there was no PA system, thank you Bill, one phonecall and he was there in a shot, I really appreciate it.  After explaining why the balloons were being released, the town cryer gave the countdown and to raptuous applause and many tears they were released.  It was a very humbling and proud moment. All in fabulous sunshine.  Thank you so much to Sylvia Clarke who came to help and ended up running the SOS merchandise stall for me, I couldn't do a thing on there as really we needed 10 of me to meet and greet the amount of people who turned up.  A wonderful day and I will never in a month of Sundays be able to repay the help I have received all weekend.  Maria"

Soldiers weekend hailed a success
Bromsgrove Standard - Bromsgrove,England,UK
MORE than £900 was raised for Support Our Soldiers after a weekend of events in Bromsgrove on Saturday and Sunday (June 27 and 28)...

Saturday 20th June Village Fete Lilley and Luton Update

It has been a busy week for SOS Luton. On Saturday I and my great friend Denise took a stall at Lilley Village Fete. After paying £15 for the stall we raised £36.87 which wasn't bad. The weather was quite cold and looked like rain for most of the afternoon so we didn't sell many cool ties. It was nice to see Rachel and Nicola. Rachel brought a care box with her so it was good to be able to show people the kind of things we send. I had to prise the football shaped soap from a few eager little hands.

Then this Tuesday I put on a pin striped suit and went down to Whitehall to RUSI. They are holding a big Land Warfare conference there this week and had kindly agreed to take some of our collecting tins and merchandise. This turned out so much better than I expected as I was invited to leave things with them for atleast a month. Many thanks to Les and Sue there for their continuing support.

Saturday 20th June - Support The Troops Event, Nottingham

Mike who is a member of SOS but also a represtative of UKNDA www.uknda.org

has very kindly offered to promote SOS at the events that he's attending.  The first was a Support the Troops day in Nottingham and this is Mike's report - " The event went well for us although it was not well attended by the public about 200 I would guess. We took £67.50 but never the less I felt we did well for our first joint event."

Sincere thanks to Mike and his team for all their help which is much appreciated.

Saturday 20th June - Court Leet Fayre, Bromsgrove High Street 

Report from Maria - "The fine weather gave Bromsgrove's Traditional Court Leet Fayre and Parade a good turn out.  It was lovely to see so many stalls and medievil costumes pottering around.  The Parade marched up the High St led by the cadet band.   SOS had a good spot and from the sale of merchandise and a tombola raised £238.80.   Thanks to Irene, Little Emma and Leslie for all their help."

Friday 19th June - Blackpool & Fylde 1st Annual Dinner Dance

Report by Mel - "The first Blackpool and Fylde SOS dinner dance was held at the Glendower Hotel St Anne’s on sea where our special guest Major Mark Steventon came along and gave us a very apt and moving presentation. We also had a raffle and although our primary aim for the evening was to raise awareness (which we did quite successfully) we also managed to raise the sum of £170.05.

The evening was enjoyed by all and I would also like to offer our sincere thanks to Michaela Turner who moved  us all by her lovely poems

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the following for their contribution and donations - Glendower Hotel, Major Mark Steventon, Michaela Turner, Glassdon Charity giving Committee, BAE Systems, Mr Mick Sugden (Stanley Arms Cabaret Bar) Blackpool, Mr Peter Bartley (Criag-y-don Hotel Blackpool),

Mr and Mrs V Shephard (St Bede’s RC School), Mr and Mrs Tupling, Mrs Dynese Brownhill, Travel circle Preston, High Diners Club.

Our next event is already in motion and we hope it is as successful as our 1st one"

Bradford Council offers free use of Sports & Leisure Facilities

We're delighted to announce that Bradford Council are offering free use of their Sports & Leisure facilities to serving members of the British Armed Forces and their families.  Press release from the Council below -

19 June at 4.30pm at Richard Dunn Sports Centre, Bradford

Soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment will be visiting Richard Dunn Sports Centre this week to find out more about the Bradford Council owned leisure facilities they can use free of charge. Resources have been set aside in this year's budget to fund the scheme for soldiers, sailors and airmen to use pools, gyms and sports courts.

Armed forces personnel identity cards must be shown as proof of eligibility on each visit. The soldiers will be shown around Richard Dunn Sports Centre and get to see the facilities that are available to them. Coun Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford Council's Executive Member for Environment and Culture, said: "This is a great initiative that is offering free leisure opportunities for these men and women. It is something that many organisations and local authorities offer and is just a small token of our appreciation." The offer includes family members when accompanying service personnel and Territorial Army members must be on active duty to benefit.

Serving members of the British armed forces have been allowed free use of Sports facilities used on an individual basis from 1st April 2009.  The offer has now been extended to include family members who attend with serving members of the British armed forces. Armed Forces personnel ID cards will suffice as proof of status / eligibility and must be shown on each visit to receive concessionary rates.

19th June 2009 - Sponsored Walk Droitwich

Many thanks to Irene and her team for doing the sponsored walk. Aby raised £47.50, Bradley £122.50, Jane £58 and Irene a wonerful £200.  Tremendous results - thank you one and all.

Support Our Soldiers Awareness Week

Please check out the reports from our second Awareness Week using the following link SOSAW 2009

Letter of Thanks from Afghanistan

The following letter was received by Brenda, our a/c for South East Essex and shows just what a difference a parcel can make...

Thank You

We'd like to thank the following people who have made contributions to Support Our Soldiers over the recent weeks. Their support really is invaluable and much appreciated -

Cool Ties from Mrs Giles, Mavis Noble, Jayne Adams, Audrey Gates  

Donations from Beverley Lions Club, Holmfirth & Meltham Lions Club, Miss H Cardwell, Doug Mangan - Army Bikers, Mrs W Keating, Mrs Viv Hayes following a Charity Night, Edna & Bill Marshall

£34.11 collected by customers and staff at the Albion Inn, Greengates, Bradford   Hand Made Cards from Mrs O Prewer, Doreen Bettison, Margaret Corrie, Norma Willoughby and Pat  

Get Well Cards & Messages of Support from Helen Cardwell, Lea-Jane Beaton, Harry, Christine Morton-Shaw, Sue Stairs, Trudy & George Hillier, Annette Hall, Kerry McMahon, Mariza Dos Santos, Clare, Tracy Molyneux, Christina Clements & the ladies of Crayford Womens Institute, Jackie Simpson, Earl Shilton Beaver Scouts, Anni Allen, Abbe Harris.

Parcels - 12 boxes from Heather Watson, Morley, Mary & Peter, Gary Duggan Liam & Declan Farrow and Caroline Conduit

Phil Pimlotts Afghan Diary

Maria's son Philip is writing a diary for the Bromsgrove.  Great reading and gives a little insight in to life as a soldier in Afghanistan.  To read the latest entry use the following link Phil Pimlott on the Frontline

Thank You from Ely

Tracy would like to offer her sincere thanks to the prison officers of Highpoint Prison near Newmarket for the parcels and their  continued support.  Also thanks to Martin Hopkins and Wicken villagers and also St Ives WI for their parcel donations.

5th June - Head Office Opening Evening

The official opening of the new Head Office premises took place on Friday 5th June. Philip Davies MP kindly 'cut the ribbon' in the presence of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, local Councillors, and guests. Our sincere thanks to everyone who joined us on the night, and to Philip for his very poignant speech.

Bingley group's new Shipley HQ
Bradford Telegraph Argus - Bradford,England,UK
By Kathie Griffiths » It started six years ago, taking up space in a family home, now the Support Our Soldiers charity has outgrown its beginnings and moved ..

Luton Newsletter

To view the Luton Newsletter for June please click here.

May 2009

Parcels from Canning Town

Our sincere thanks to the residents of a sheltered housing complex in Canning Town, London who kindly presented 100 parcels to Jacqueline. These were all beautifully packed and included letters of support.  A wonderful effort and very much appreciated.  

Thank you from the VIP Driving Team

"On behalf of our VIP driving team we would like to thank to all of you for the parcel that we received yesterday. Thank you for keeping up the morale, we appreciate all the supporting ,love and care from all of you. Lots of thanks from Tui and Goodman"           

23rd May - May Queen Fun Day Wigan

A great day for Carol who held a stall at the May Queen Fun Day in Wigan.

17th May - Charity Bike Rided

From Left To Right – Jack Gillingwater, Paul Phillips & John Stedman

From Left To Right – Amy Brown, Sidonie Stedman, Katie Delmer & Janice Yellop

Report from Kelly - “On the 17th May 2009 a team of 7 took part in the annual Little Havens Childrens Hospice Charity Bike Ride through the Essex Countryside.  The route was 20 miles, although once over the finish line the riders were informed that the route they had completed was 24 miles in total!!

The team consisted of John Stedman, Sidonie Stedman, Janice Yellop, Jack Gillingwater, Amy Brown, Paul Phillips & Katie Delmer.  Firstly I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that took part in the event as it was a great success.  Unfortunately I couldn’t take part due to ill health so my wonderful husband John stepped up as our SOS representative on the day – THANK YOU!!

The Sunday morning that the ride took place was a very dull drizzly morning in Essex and all of the group set off at 9am from the start line.  I received a call from John about an hour into the ride saying how tired, wet and miserable it was out there and I felt really guilty while I was tucked up in bed with my hot lemsip!!

The ride in total took around two and a half hours to complete and once the finish line was crossed was all awarded with a certificate and medal.

The group raised a staggering £2,740.00 in total which was split between Little Havens Childrens Hospice (£1,560.00) and Support Our Soldiers (£1,180.00).

A massive THANK YOU to the Team and to those who kindly donated.”

Balloon Release to Honour Heroes

Maria is organising a balloon release to honour our fallen heroes. This will be a wonderful tribute to those brave Servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.  The following article in the Bromsgrove Standard explaines more... Bromsgrove Standard

SOS Aberdeenshire - Article in the Press & Journal

Debra our representative for North East Aberdeenshire has hit the local headlines once again with this wonderful article published in the Press & Journal.  Sincere thanks to everyone who has given Debra such wonderful support.

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1211026

On Patrol with 2 SCOTS in Kenya

Kilmarnock Standard - Kilmarnock,Scotland,UK
Last year, when the 2SCOTS were serving in Afghanistan, the Support Our Soldiers (SOS) campaign ensured that the troops all received a parcel ...

Saturday 9th May - Thanks from Iraq

Another great picture and note of thanks to Joy from the boys deployed at the Iraqi Military College Rustamiyah in Baghdad -

"We frequently receive your parcels and we wanted to send you an email to say a big thankyou from us all for your very kind gifts and messages of well being.   We are engaged in training and mentoring the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Army Officer Corps, a task that is equally rewarding and frustrating at times.  We have no NAAFI or Welfare Tent, so the parcels that you send are looked forward to with great excitement and always appreciated.  Indeed, we are most proud to think that in our current times you have been so selfless as to think of troops overseas.   Once again, please accept our sincere thanks for your most kind presents."

SOS In the Press - The Buchan Observer

Support our Soldiers urges Peterhead mum - Topix
Support our Soldiers urges Peterhead mum. A PETERHEAD woman is aiming to raise the profile of an organisation set up to help support families of soldiers ...

Flowers for Mary

This beautiful bunch of flowers was sent by 'the boys' to Mary in Sunderland.  They were to say a special thank you for all the wonderful parcels that she's been sending.  Mary's been with us since the start of SOS and truly is a wonderful lady, doing all she can for the boys and girls overseas.  Lovely to see that they think so much about her too!

Saturday 2nd May - Stoke Parish Village Fete

Maria and Irene held an awareness stall at Stoke Parish Village fete on Saturday 2nd May.  The event, a very small village affair raised £137.15 for SOS and was most enjoyable.   A lot of support was shown for our troops, and the sum raised was wonderful, particularly when times are rather difficult for everyone at the moment. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to make the day such a successful and enjoyable one.

April 2009

Luton Newsletter

To view the Luton Newsletter for April please click here

Sunday 26th April - Nell McAndrew runs Flora Marathon

Once again our sincere thanks to Nell for running the marathon on behalf of SOS and CRUK.  Nell was the first celebrity to cross the line in an amazing time of 3 hours, 10 minutes and 20 seconds!  And an amazing amount of £1,167 raised for Support Our Soldiers.  Pictures of the event can be seen on the following link -

Nell McAndrew photos

Good Luck Nell...

We'd like to wish Nell McAndrew all the very best for the Flora Marathon on Sunday.  Nell's very kindly offered to run for both Support Our Soldiers and CRUK, and we're very grateful for her support.  It's not too late to sponsor her and help her reach the target, simply go to http://www.justgiving.com/nellmcandrewsos2009.  Many thanks to everyone who has sponsored her so far, this really is appreciated.

We will of course let you know how she gets on...

London Marathon: Top 10 stars running this year's event
Telegraph.co.uk - London,England,UK
Running for Cancer Research UK and Support Our Soldiers, the Yorkshire beauty is hoping to break the 3h 30m barrier. That won't be a personal best but ...

Friday 17th April - Homecoming Parade Plymouth

Marie attended the homecoming parade in Plymouth where over 3,000 people turned out to welcome our brave heroes home.

Wednesday 8th April - Many thanks to Careforce, Witham, Essex

Brenda would like to extend her sincere thanks to Dawn and Lola, of Careforce in Witham for their wonderful efforts in arranging 40 parcels which will shortly be on their way to our boys and girls in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Many thanks from the Head Office team too, the support is much appreciated.

Songs for the Troops

Two wonderful songs for our brave boys and girls -

Flags of our Fathers - Jim Lindsay

This song was written for all the young men and women who are now in places of conflict around the world.  Very poignant, you can listen here

God Bless us all - Levi Coby

God Bless us all was written by Levi Coby for the Troops and their families. A wonderful song and video which can be viewed here

Monday 6th April - The first Forces Families Meeting!

Amanda in Leicester launched the first of our Forces Families meetings and was delighted with the response - " The group was a great success for a first time. We had over 20 people attend and 6 calls from those who couldn't make it but wanted details of the next one! Everyone loved it, we just socialised, Sir Peter Soulsby came and mingled! An ex-army padre with 24 yrs behind him rang me to ask if he could come aboard too.  The next get together is in 3 wks time on a Sunday afternoon, and we'ill have a list /agenda for future events - those there this time suggested rounders matches in the summer, pub nights, talks etc so it looks as though they all intend to come back!!"

And the following video really couldn't be more appropriate - made by Lizzie Palmer, aged 15 years -. Remember Me

Sunday 5th April - Marc Wall runs the Blackpool Marathon for SOS!

Our sincere thanks to Marc Wall who ran the Blackpool Marathon on Sunday on behalf of Support Our Soldiers. Marc, 25, is an Ex RAF police dog handler and now works for HMP. This is the first marathon he has ever run and minutes after he finished swore he wouldnt be doing another!! Marc keeps fit by playing football on a regular basis and has got a number of friends, workmates and family to sponsor him for the run. The total raised hasn't as yet been confirmed but will be announced shortly.  Once again, many thanks to Marc for doing this and to everyone who lent him their support!  Well done!

Marc with sister Emily who was there to cheer him on!

Saturday 4th April - 6th Rifles Homecoming Parade

Report from the Western Morning News -

THOUSANDS of people burst into applause and cheers as Territorial Army troops came home after a six-month tour in Afghanistan. The 80 troops from Exeter-based Corunna Company 6th Battalion who had been through an difficult tour, including the loss of one of their men, were reunited with their families on Saturday morning.

The men from the regiment finally flew in on Friday night after their scheduled flight from Afghanistan was delayed. For many, seeing their loved ones on Saturday was an emotional reminder of everything they had missed at home and had endured in Helmand Province. Families shouted with joy as the troops rounded the corner, and after the soldiers fell out there were squeals of excitement as children were reunited with their fathers, and husbands refused to let go of wives.

After time with their loved ones they marched through Exeter to the cheers of thousands. People had travelled from all over the South West to give their

support to the soldiers and show appreciation for their bravery and commitment.

Missing from their ranks was Serjeant Christopher Reed, of Plymouth, who was killed in action on New Year’s Day. His parents and fiancée were in Exeter

to welcome back the troops who served with him.

Outside Exeter Cathedral, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Mereweather, commanding officer of 6 Rifles, thanked the crowd for their heartfelt welcome. He commended

the men on their professionalism, reminding the crowd that they were civilians who serve their country part-time. He said: “For much of the time they’re civilians living and working across the South West. But what we see in front of us is also a company of soldiers. “They have performed extremely well and shown themselves to be flexible, robust and above all highly professional. I, and the whole regiment, are extremely proud of them.”

Coming home was commanding officer Major Paul Miller. The 39-year-old from Brixham paid tribute to his men. “The guys have been superb and have looked after

each other,” he said. Maj Miller was one of four men to be awarded a special medal by Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester. With Warrant Officer Class 2 Andrew Edmonds, Colour Serjeant Nicholas Beresford, and Serjeant Dean Hammond he was awarded the Accumulated Service Medal for 1,000 hours of service.

Welcome home boys, we are very proud of you all!

Saturday 4th April - Badlanders Rock Night - Report from Kim...

Joe Fairrie and the Bandlanders M.C.C.  felt they needed to do something to show their support for our British Armed Forces serving out in Afghanistan and Iraq. Joe contacted S.O.S.  a few weeks ago about their ideas for an event. The Badlanders  M.C.C. organised a Rock Night to show their support and also to raise funds for  Support Our Soldiers. The Rock Night took place on Saturday April 4th at the Storemont Mains Social Club, Wreckenton.

Prior to the event we had arranged for a photographer from the North East Chronicle to meet up at The Trading Post on Westgate Hill, this brought further publicity for the event, our charity and our forces.

The night was a huge success thanks to all the hard work from everyone involved, the support from over 25 Motorcycle clubs of the North East is fantastic! We were entertained by  Band2Twenty2  a live band arranged for the night who were great, the raffles were a great success also.  A grand total of £460.85 including cheque donations was donated to S.O.S. on the evening.  Whilst making people aware of the Rock Night the Badlanders also encouraged people to donated care parcels to them, more than 200 care parcels were donated!!! Some of these went into the post yesterday to make our lads and lasses smile, have to admit that some of the notes inside the boxes so far have almost brought a tear to my eye (only almost Joyce!).

Joyce and husband Phil, my friend Jill and myself had a fantastic night, we met some lovely people and had many laughs during the evening ( especially when I fell off the chair! Thanks for the sympathy lads! ).  Joyce and I  would just like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that participated to make this event a success, it means so much to our lads and lasses. We look forward to seeing you again soon for future events that are already being planned.

Saturday 4th April - Hereford Branch Table Top Sale

Liz had a lovely morning at her table top sale raising £82 in 2 hours - "selling bits and pieces from my Spring cupboard clearout.  People were very kind and generous thrusting £s into my hand for "such a good cause" One couple even gave me a raffle prize they had won. Many had taken part in the Christmas appeal and told me about letters they had received from soldiers which had delighted them." Another great result and many thanks to Liz for organising this.

March 2009

Bromsgrove Update

There's been lots happening in Bromsgrove, here is Maria's report - " Steve and Lisa Wynn who are some of Mary's friends kindly brought over 3 boxes filled with goodies yesterday.  It's great that she's still getting things in even though she's far away.  Thank you to Steve, Lisa and the children.   Cameron once again collected 5 big bag fulls of Easter Eggs at Lickey Primary School.  Thank you to Cameron and all the pupils at Lickey School for their continual support of SOS.

Last but by no means least.   "The Famborough Youngters"  from Hodge Hill in Birmingham. They are pensioners really but say they like to kid themselves.  They have a residents club in thier street and collected bags full of goodies to send to our boys and girls and wrote personal notes for me to include in the parcels. They did a tremendous job and I am very grateful for their support.

Sunday 29th March - Presentation of £1,000 by Ann & Ken Dodgson

On Sunday 29th March Karen was kindly invited to the home of Ann & Ken Dodgson to accept a donation of £1,000.  This was raised by Ann & Ken who had organised a raffle and sold tickets to their family, friends and colleagues. The Mayor of Morley, Councillor Grayshon came along to make the draw.  The prizes included a weeks accomodation for four people at Tropical Park, Tenerife plus £200 towards flights, a £100 Shopping Voucher, and a food hamper, all kindly donated.

Sincere thanks to Ann & Ken for all their hard work in organising this and to everyone who contributed to this magnificent effort.

Saturday 28th March - Easter Parcels from the Royal British Legion, Dawlish

On Saturday,28th March 2009, Peter, our representative from Exeter, received a total of 120 parcels packed by the ladies and gentleman of the Dawlish Branch of the Royal British Legion. The gifts in these parcels were kindly donated by the people of Dawlish. Peter would like to pay a sincere vote of thanks to the Dawlish branch of the Royal British Legion for their very kind support and to the people of the town of Dawlish for their generosity . Also to Mr Ian Downs (MBE)  the chairman of the Exeter & East Devon Disabled sports Association, for helping transport the parcels.

The gifts of these consignments of Easter parcels were possible as a result of donations generously given to the forces charity, Support Our Soldiers, by local people from Teignmouth, Exeter, South, East and Mid Devon. Peter said "I am deeply moved by the fantastic public response, which was much better than I could ever have possibly imagined. The gifts and Easter Cards, containing a wide range of wonderful messages from the folks at home, will be greatly appreciated by the men and women of our forces. The welfare packages will make a great difference to their quality of life, while serving out in Afghanistan. Many of those serving are from the Devon & Cornwall area and will very much appreciate the kindness and support from local people.”

Captain Adam Lee said in a letter of thanks handed over during the presentation of the Easter parcels,” I would like to convey the thanks of all here at ASGRM to both you and your team of supporters for your efforts in putting together this batch of welfare packages for our personnel currently deployed and about to deploy to operations in Afghanistan. Our Marines are regularly separated from their loved ones and homes for significant periods of time. So the kindness shown by you and your organization helps greatly to relieve the discomforts inherent in operational service. On top of the gifts and Easter cards signed by many local people, the knowledge that we have the support of everyone back at home is a great comfort and a morale boost"

Saturday 28th March - Badlanders Motorcycle Event

The BAD-LANDERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB along with huge support from TWIN CITY MOTOR CYCLES, JARROW and HELLS ANGELS TYNE & WEAR and 25 motorcycle clubs in the North East got together. Around 90 bikes gathered in the cold, wind & rain to show how passionate they are in supporting British armed forces fighting to keep our country safe. To show their support the Bad-landers have donated & accepted donations from the other motor bike clubs of around 150 shoe boxes filled with goodies & treats to send out to the troops (lads& lasses) fighting on the front line.

On April 4th the Bad-landers are holding a rock night at Stormont Mains working men’s club at Wrekenton, Gateshead (Tickets £4) in conjunction with this appeal and are expecting even more shoe boxes to be donated on the night as well as cash donations promised from the Hells Angels MC and other clubs. For more information please contact Kim or Joyce

Bikers show their charitable side
Shields Gazette - South Shields,England,UK
... met up on Saturday to raise awareness for the Support Our Soldiers appeal. Men and women gathered at Twin Cities Motorcycles, in Bede Trading Estate. ...

Saturday 28th March - Table Top Sale

Rachael Bodycot very kindly organised a table top sale in Glenfield. This is her report - "We all had a good day, lots of stalls were there and we had refreshments on as well, the tombola was a hit and a good day was had by everybody. The crew from Leicester Sound came over and were so impressed by what SOS do that they all wrote messages in the book, asked if they could write letters and send parcels which was brillant. They have also said that if we give them the dates on when we are doing events in Leicester that they will promote them for us as well. All in all a good day was had by everybody and we managed to raise £168.95 for SOS"

A wonderful result and our sincere thanks go to Rachael for all her hard work in organising this.

Football Match in Memory of Mne Marc Birch

Following a football match between Leicestershire/Northamptonsire Police Forces, a fantastic £631.00 was donated to Support Our Soldiers by Roger Moore, a former Marine and uncle of Marc who sadly lost his life in Afghanistan in December 2008. The match was won by Northants who were awarded the Marc Birch trophy.  This is to become an annual event. Amanda was kindly invited to the match and says 'I'm sure Marc was watching over the day and had a smile or two at the teams! My thanks go to Marc's family especially his lovely wife Charlene, mum Gez, Roger and all other family members I met that day, a truly courageous family to be thinking of others when their loss is still so raw'. Our sincere thanks are also offered to Roger and to all Marc's family for this wonderful gesture.

Thanks from Preston

Brian would like to offer his sincere thanks to Karen Freeman and her Youth Group in Hindley, Wigan for kindly putting together nine parcels for our Troops.  Also to Jackie Simpson from Burnley for the two Easter parcels donated. Jackie has given continued support over the last six months and this is much appreciated.

.

Friday 20th March - BLESMA Presentation

On Friday 20th March we were delighted to meet with Peter Shields and Andy Mudd of BLESMA and to present them with a cheque for £15,000.  The presentation took place at the Bankfield Hotel in Bingley.  Sincere thanks to Peter and Andy for making the journey and for providing us with a greater insight in to the work that BLESMA carry out on behalf of their members.

A Thank You from the Boys!

This lovely email and picture was sent through to Joy who's been sending parcels out to Simon and the team throughout the winter -

"Joy, Hope you are well, just thought I would e-mail you a recently taken photo of the Brit team currently serving here at Rustamiyah.  I'm out of here in 9 days time and would just like to thank you once again for your wonderful parcels that you have sent. All the best for the future. Regards, Simon and the rest of the British team serving at AR Rustamiyah."

Thank you to...

Tracy our coordinator for Ely would like to thank Norfolk Military Vehicles Group who have recently donated 25 parcels with a promise of more to follow. Many thanks too to Martin Hopkins, his wife and Wicken villagers for their continued support, and to Debra Edwards for her continued support.  Also Little Downham post office and Scotts Farm Shop at Witchford for displaying collecting tins on a premanent basis. 

A Special Announcement re: Mary our A/C for The Black Country

Very shortly Mary will be leaving us to head out to Afghanistan to join the Medics team there.  Of course we're sorry to lose her (even for just a short break) but we're all immensely proud of her for doing this.  We know she'll do a tremendous job looking after our boys and girls and really will make a difference over there. So just to say a huge well done Mary, we are so proud of you, and we all wish you lots and lots of love and luck. 

We sent a little beanie nurse to Mary which she's decorated so there's no chance of her forgetting SOS - as if she would!

Foxy Fox Records Supports Support Our Soldiers

Many thanks to Steve Fox of Foxy Fox Records who has offered their services to Amanda just as and when required.  Steve is also promoting SOS via his website www.foxyfoxrecords.co.uk and is looking at donating the proceeds from one of their singles to us. Thank you too to polo-shirts.co.uk for providing Steve with t-shirts to give out at events. 

Longsands C. P. Primary School, Fulwood, Preston

A big thank you to the children and staff at Longsands C. P. Primary School in Fulwood, Preston who organised a Super Heroes Day and collected a magnificent amount of goodies for the parcels.  These were handed to Brian our Preston representative who made up 11 parcels to send out to the boys and girls.  Many thanks too to Joanne Preston from Bury who handed Brian a further four parcels for forwarding on.

February 2009

28th February 2009 - 22 Signals Homecoming Parade

On Saturday 28th Feb Kim, Joyce, Kim and Karen were delighted to join Pauline and her husband H at the Homecoming Parade for 22 Signal Regiment.  As midday approarched the town square was filled with families and members of the public all wanting to show their support for boys and girls of the regiment who had recently returned from Afghanistan.  It was a wonderful sight with flags being waved and huge cheers of appreciation as the parade approached.  We were kindly invited to the Reforming Function where we were able to chat with the lads, many sporting the Support Our Soldiers wristbands which they'd received in the Christmas parcels sent to them by Pauline.  A great day for everyone!

Thank Yous

Our sincere thanks to the following individuals and organisations for their kind contributions -

Donations received from The Phoenix Singers, Mr W Hall, Mrs W Keating, Mrs M Walsh, Mr & Mrs Marson, Mrs A Dean, Mr N Hale, Keigley Lions Club, St James Church and Willow Lodge No 6051.

Get Well cards received from - Mrs Del Dennis, Davina Hartley, Mrs Keighley, Estelle, Wendy Bullivant, Helen Cardwell, Jean Harrison, Harry, Barbara & David Jenks, Joy and Julie Skinner

Messages of Support from Wendy Bullivant, Helen Cardwell, Mrs D Armstrong, Year 7 pupils at Hitchin Boys' School, Julie Skinner, Sharon Findlay and Charlotte Ingram

Cool Ties from Mrs R Williams and Mrs Heeley, sadly now passed away  

Hand Made Cards from Joy  

Parcels From Gary Duggan, Veronica Burton and Rebekah Green - the latter all the way from the USA!

BLESMA Donation

We're delighted to announce that a cheque for £15,000 is being prepared for BLESMA.  This was raised during 2008 - £1,500 during SOS Awareness Week, £11,956 from the Christmas parcels, £101.93 direct donations from the public and £1,442.07 rounded up from Head Office.

 In addition £746 was raised in Ayr by the lads of 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland which Agnes will be presenting directly to the BLESMA home in Perth. So a tremendous result for a tremendous cause.  An official presentation of the £15,000 will be made over the next couple of weeks so look for a full report and pictures shortly.

We'll be supporting BLESMA once again this year, an official fundraising page has been created - the link SOS BLESMA Appeal if you'd like to take a look!

Soldier Snowman!

Maria's star helper Cameron took advantage of the wintry conditions to build a Soldier snowman!

Volunteers Wanted - Blackpool & Surrounding Areas

Mel, our Blackpool representative, is looking for volunteers to set up an Events Team to organise fundraising activities in and around the Blackpool area.  If anyone would like to be involved please contact Mel directly.

January 2009

31st January 2009 - Jive Hives Event, Crosby

The Jive Hives event on Saturday raised an amazing total of over £1,100 with money still coming in.  Emma, our representative for Sefton would like to say a huge big thank you to Phil and Viv Hayes for organising the evening!!!  It was a fabulous night enjoyed by everyone who attended and she met some lovely people who were very interested in the work of SOS and are looking at ways to help in the future!!! Our sincere thanks too to everyone involved, a tremendous effort!

Ex-Brookside star Vince Earl is the VIP at a charity night in Crosby
Crosby Herald - Crosby,Merseyside,UK
All proceeds from the night will go to the charity Support Our Soldiers. One of the evening’s organisers, Viv Hayes, said: “Please come along and help our ...

Sunderland Support

Soldiers' thanks for messages of support
Sunderland Echo - Sunderland,England,UK
With the help of the Support Our Soldiers (SOS) charity, dozens of copies of the paper were flown out to troops risking their lives fighting Iraqi ...

27th January 2009

Maria collected 36 completed shoe boxes from the pupils at Shenley Court School & Sixth Form College.   The picture is of  Connor McCloughlin aged 13 and Jack Fry also 13.   Many thanks to IT teacher Larry Taylor who arranged the collection.