“They are just blokes but they are our blokes”
We visited Chavasse VC House, one of the charity’s recovery centres, in Colchester and spoke to Claire Worland, the communication and marketing manager, about the different stages of the road to recovery and what Help for Heroes is able to offer not just to soldiers, but their family members too.
Help for Heroes helps countless injured servicemen and women returning to the UK from war zones. Rehabilitation after injury is just one of the many ways the group support our heroes, but it is the one that people are more aware of.
Images of injured service personnel learning to walk again on prosthetic legs are a common feature in news reports but much of that work actually takes place at Ministry of Defence centres like Headley Court.
Help for Heroes come in further down the road to recovery. Rehabilitation is still part of their remit but it is exactly that, a part. Help for Heroes does far more.
Claire said: “When someone loses a limb out there the focus is on saving their life…it’s not about the aesthetics, it’s purely about saving that life.
“When they come back to the UK they can get involved with the Battle Back recovery project in partnership with the MoD. There’s a whole range of activities that like athletics or Horseback UK.”
Help for Heroes are in contact with Cybathlon, with the intention of getting our injured service personnel involved in the event in some way. We will provide updates on this, so keep checking for the latest news.
Image: Chris Tilbury