The Sandbag Times Issue No: 49

WWTW
the walk of their choice, wearing the hats, to
raise awareness and money for those who
served.
Military charities join forces to give hope to
Veterans this Christmas
Help for Heroes and Walking With The
Wounded partner up on Christmas fundraising
event
Today Matalan have been announced as
the principal sponsor for the collaboration
The three British brands hope to join
forces and make this year bigger than ever
Leading military charities Walking With The
Wounded (‘WWTW’) and Help for Heroes are
to join forces this winter to support hundreds
more veterans and their families who will be
struggling this Christmas.
Earlier this year HRH Duke Of Sussex
announced that more collaboration was
needed within the military sector to provide
better support for the Armed Forces and veteran
communities.* WWTW and Help for
Heroes, who have been working together
delivering recovery programmes since 2012
are honouring Prince Harry’s vision by collaborating
even further via a joint fundraising
campaign, Walking Home For Christmas to
pay for vital support for veterans at risk,
including those who are unemployed or
struggling with their mental health.
Today, the British fashion and homeware
retailer Matalan was announced as the headline
sponsor of the fun walking challenge,
Walking Home for Christmas, and hopes to
encourage the nation to lace up their boots
and organise a fundraising walk in their community.
With over 200 stores nationwide and
a loyal customer base who are also active
supporters of our
nation’s wounded
veterans** the partnership
is a natural
fit for Matalan’s
customers.
Participants can
register for the walk
online for free and
upon registration
will receive a Santa
hat in the post.
Between 13 – 23
December, registered
friends and
colleagues will walk
The campaign is now in its fifth year and has
so far raised more than £1m for those who
served and are in need of support. The
longest walk to date was by a grandmother
in Suffolk walking 400 miles to visit a family
member in Northern Ireland in honour of her
serving grandson. Other walks have included
people carrying their Christmas tree home,
collecting a turkey from a farm on foot and
getting old regimental colleagues back
together for a walk.
Walking With The Wounded CEO, Ed Parker
said: “Both our organisations are helping the
same person. We help them in different
ways. We reach them in different ways. But
essentially the veterans and their families are
the people we’re all supporting. We really
hope that people can come together on this
and make it a huge success. We think that
by working together we can make Walking
Home For Christmas bigger, better and raise
even more money.”
Help for Heroes CEO, Mel Waters said: “It
makes absolute sense that while we work on
recovery together we also fundraise together.
It’s something that we’re proud to do given
the nature of our partnership.
“We know that social isolation can become
an issue, particularly if you don’t have a family
at Christmas time. You can feel really
removed from society and often need a little
bit more support. We want to make a difference
together and I really hope the public
get behind this.”
Mr Parker added: “I believe that out of these
walks over the last few years, and I’ve done
some big walks, it’s all about the camaraderie.
It’s about the impact that we know
we’re having and it’s a time when one can
reflect and feel you’re doing something.”
Jason Hargreaves, Matalan’s CEO said:
“Matalan is proud to be sponsoring such an
important event and collaboration. The point
of, Walking Home for Christmas is not just
raising funds for an amazing cause, which is
important - but also bringing communities
together and supporting individuals at a very
tough time of the year. It’s important we
recognise that and remind people that support
is available and that as communities we
can be there for each other. That’s why we’re
honoured to be title sponsors of this year’s
event.”
To find out more please visit
www.walkinghomeforchristmas.com
#WalkingHomeForChristmas
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