The Sandbag Times Issue No: 51

VETERANS RAFFLE DONATES £500 TO THE TOMMY ATKINS CENTRE
Christmas came early for the Tommy
Atkins Centre when the Veterans Raffle
passed over a well needed donation to
the Worcester veterans centre.
Just recently, the Tommy Atkins Centre
launched a new project to help veterans in
crisis called the Veterans Online Rewind
Therapy System. However, the centre has
survived on donated laptops and hand-medown
phones and other equipment.
However, thanks to the Veterans Raffle, the
centre now has a brand new laptop to deal
with the high online demand from veterans in
need of assistance.
The Veterans Raffle formed a great working
relationship with the Sandbag Times, who
founded the Tommy Atkins Centre in 2017
and has worked mutually together over the
past year to assist veterans in a variety of
ways. Chris Hearn, the founder and chairman
of Veterans Raffle has been a big supporter
of the publication and the Tommy
Atkins Centre over the past year after hearing
how the organisation helps veterans in their
own unique way.
The Veterans Raffle was established to fund
charities that support veterans suffering from
mental health-related conditions such as
PTSD, complex injuries such as loss of limb
and those who find themselves out of work &
homeless. The Veterans Raffle currently supports
10 veterans charities and is the only UK
raffle or lottery to apportion 95% of your
donations to charity and prizes - retaining
only 5% towards admin and marketing costs.
You can find out more and enter the Raffle by
going to https://veteransraffle.uk
Peterhead veteran in horrific accident will
embark on epic fundraising motorbike ride
A veteran, who almost lost a leg in a horrific
accident, is raising funds for the
organisation which is helping him to
achieve his dream of getting back on a
motorbike.
Derek Hunter was riding his 2005 model
Yamaha FZS1000 Fazer motorbike past
Trump International in February, 2017
when he was involved in a four-vehicle
collision. Mr Hunter, a civil servant from
Peterhead, suffered life-threatening
injuries to his right leg when his femur
and knee were left shattered. But now,
almost two years later, with the support
of family and friends, allied to his determination
to climb back on a bike, Mr
Hunter is trying to raise £1,000 to support
the organisation who made that
dream possible. In May, the 46-year-old
will ride across the American Wild West
challenge thanks to backing from nonprofit
organisation Bike Tours for the
Wounded (BTFTW). The organisation
ensures that service personnel, who are
injured, wounded or become sick in a
Story: Press & Journal
way which is career or life-limiting,
receive the opportunity to escape from
their comfort zone as a means of aiding
their recovery. Mr Hunter was a soldier
in the Royal Signals for 19 years before
he left in 2014 and got involved with
BTFTW through his brother. He said: “I
was on my way down to see relatives in
the central belt on when I was involved
in a major accident near to the entrance
to Trump International golf course and
was knocked off my motorbike by a car
that was attempting to avoid a truck and
car that had collided. Read more here...
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