HEROES RUGBY CHALLENGE RAISES OVER HALF A MILLION FOR HELP FOR HEROES

The committee for the Heroes Rugby Challenge Match chaired by His Honour Judge Jeff Blackett,  has today announced that it has raised £717,642.00 for Help for Heroes, the charity which provides practical support for our wounded service men and women.  The fundraising rugby match, which was supported by J.P. Morgan, was held at Twickenham on December 3^rd 2011 and attended by nearly  30,000 spectators.

The fixture, which marked the tenth anniversary of Britain’s Armed Forces Operations in Afghanistan, featured players selected from the northern and southern hemisphere professional game and the best players from the Armed Forces.  The money raised has been allocated to fund the new Personnel Recovery Centre, Tedworth House, in Wiltshire.

Combined with the efforts from the first Heroes Rugby Challenge Match held in 2008, it means that over £2,180,000 has now been raised for the charity as a result of the two rugby fundraising matches held at Twickenham.

Bryn Parry, Co-founder of Help for Heroes commented:

“We are absolutely delighted with this amazing contribution from the Heroes Rugby Challenge Match. The money raised will go towards further developing our flagship Personnel Recovery Centre, Tedworth House. The centre, based in Wiltshire, provides vital support, education, training, sport and adventure for our serving and veteran wounded, injured and sick. On behalf of Help for Heroes I’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Jeff Blackett and everyone involved in staging and playing in this great match and for the fantastic donation to our charity”.

For more information please contact:
Beth Begg – brandRapport
T: 020 7932 5813 E: bbegg@brand-rapport.com

About Help for Heroes

• Help for Heroes (H4H) has raised over £105m since its launch in October 2007.
• All the funds raised to date are either allocated or spent on the direct, practical support of those wounded in the line of duty. To date, H4H has funded a variety of projects including the £8m Rehabilitation Complex at Headley Court, a new £3.5m treatment centre for Combat Stress, adaptive adventure training through the Battle Back programme and the creation of a £6m Quick Reaction Fund to support individuals in need.
• In February 2010, H4H announced its key role in the creation of five regional Personnel Recovery Centres (PRCs), which provide, in partnership with the MOD and The Royal British Legion and other Service charities, ongoing training and support for the wounded after Headley Court.  Locations of the PRCs include Edinburgh, Colchester, Catterick, Tidworth and Plymouth.
• Help for Heroes does not seek to criticise or be political. They work closely with the Army, Navy and RAF, along with other services charities, to provide support where it is most needed.
• Of the money raised to date for H4H, nearly all of it has been either spent or allocated to provide facilities and support services that benefit British servicemen and women injured in action.
• For more information on how H4H spend your money visit www.helpforheroes.org.uk/how_we_spend.html

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