Army Benevolent Fund

This week's funder spotlight is National Garden Scheme. 🌱 Our long-standing partnership has helped members of the Army family through horticultural therapy and training, outdoor activities, and access to green space. This funding has enabled us to to support a wide variety of projects devoted to helping members of the Army community. These include grants to partner charities such as HighGround Charity and Veterans' Growth. #ForSoldiersForLife

🌊This December, four Army officers will row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic for ABF. The Oarsome Army Educators, formed of Dec Lynn, Jess Hunter, Gian-Luc Angiolini, and Graham Doyle, are taking on an incredible challenge where they will navigate busy shipping lanes and 30-foot waves. Donate here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ehzUnUzW #ForSoldiersForLife

There’s still time to order your Steel Soldier as part of our 2024 fundraising campaign for the brilliant Army Benevolent Fund. The campaign, now in its fourth year, helps people like Lee Harris-Hamer. Lee entered the armed forces as a boy at age 17 and was medically discharged in 2016 following a non-operational injury and subsequently catapulted into a world he didn’t know or understand with the added pressure of a wife and child to support. Through the help of the ABF, and his own deep-rooted tenacity and dedication, Lee has completely transformed his life and is now the proud owner of multi-million-pound business, White Horse Laundry Services. Read his inspirational story and find out how to order your Steel Soldier and donate to ABF here: https://lnkd.in/e6N6fWDq

In the past year, we have supported around 75,000 members of the Army family in 51 countries via our individual grants programme and by providing essential funding 86 other charities and organisations. #ForSoldiersForLife

Our Annual Review 2023-24 is now here. With your support, we reached 75,000 members of the Army family in the last financial year. To find out more about our impact on soldiers, veterans and their families, read or download the review here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e_UcMYRg #ForSoldiersForLife

#OnThisDay in 1942 the Battle of El Alamein began, one of the decisive turning points of World War Two. British Eighth Army and Commonwealth forces, commanded by General Bernard Montgomery, launched an air bombardment and ground attack against the German Afrika Korps and Italian forces under Erwin Rommel, the ‘Desert Fox’. The battle lasted until 4 November and enabled the Allies to reconquer Libya and Tunisia, and later invade Italy in 1943. We remember the British Eighth Army and Commonwealth soldiers who fought and died in the desert campaign. #ForSoldiersForLife #ElAlamein

In honour of #BlackHistoryMonth we share the story of Private Moses Mbugua Muiru, a 100 year-old Army veteran from Kenya. Moses served with the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers between 1942-1949. After basic training and trade training in Kenya, his first service was in Burma, part of the 14th Army. Later, Moses saw service in Ceylon and then part of East African Command in British Somalia. Moses remembers being proud his personal kit was always in good order and being ready to do his job. Moses’ service was recognised by award of the British War Medal and Burma Star campaign medal. Today, Moses depends on a welfare grant from the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League, which we are proud to support with our funding. This grant helps him purchase a healthy daily diet. #ForSoldiersForLife

We are pleased to continue our partnership with ACS and were delighted to meet the team to showcase our vital work. Order your Steel Soldier below in support of soldiers, former soldiers and their families.

The Army Benevolent Fund is saddened to hear of the death of General Sir Mike Jackson GCB, CBE, DSO, who served the Army and its national charity with such distinction. Tim Hyams, Chief Executive of the Army Benevolent Fund, said: “General Mike combined strategic vision, a genuine grasp of the operational art, and the ability to make all ranks feel at home in his company. He cared deeply for his soldiers; as they did for him. His profoundly important contribution to the ABF, as its President, was an extension of his lifetime of dedicated service to the Army and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with Lady Sarah and the family at this most difficult of times.”

On #WorldCraftDay we share the story of Leon, whose bursary we have funded through Heritage Crafts. Leon left the Army in 2023 having served 24 years in the Coldstream Guards, where he was deployed operationally to Iraq and Afghanistan. With the help from Heritage Crafts, Leon will spend time working alongside a local skilled dry stone waller and achieve the Dry Stone Walling Association Level 3 certification. His goal is to become a master craftsman and instructor. 📸: Heritage Crafts #ForSoldiersForLife