Fund Raising Appeal : The Colonel's Fund Grenadier Guards
During its recent tour in Afghanistan, the third operational tour in as many years, the First Battalion was engaged in some of the fiercest and most prolonged infantry fighting the British Army has experienced in recent times, with casualty rates approaching the level of the Second World War. The Regiment suffered 5 fatalities and 32 wounded, as well as an indeterminate number of psychiatric injuries, some of which may take over a decade to appear. We can confidently predict that there will be a marked increase in the number of welfare cases over the medium to long term and that we will be unable to resource them properly from our existing charitable funds, which are already fully committed. The Battalion is warned for a further Afghan tour in 2009 and we, as the Grenadier family, all need to help now.
Through the First Guards Club and the Regimental Association we can provide a unique, direct and personal contact to members of our Regimental family so that our response can be both timely and carefully tailored. Our activities are intended to complement, not duplicate, those of other agencies.
Fundraising will be on the basis of a year-long campaign finishing at the end of 2008. However, the Fund will remain open thereafter. The Regiment and our friends are the target of the appeal, which distinguishes it from larger-scale public appeals such as SSAFA, The Army Benevolent Fund and 'Help for Heroes'. A small executive committee will provide focus and coordination from within Regimental Headquarters but the actual fundraising will be largely decentralised to a number of project teams.
Our intention is to minimise costs and complexity, thereby maximising fundraising returns. We need volunteers to form the project teams and to come up with ideas. So if you would like to help, please let the Regimental Adjutant (020 7414 3280; regtladjt@grengds.com) or the Project Officer (020 7414 3281; projectofficer@grengds.com) know as soon as possible. Above all, we need money. We ask for your forbearance if we approach you more than once - we simply want to provide you with an opportunity to be generous in a way that suits you best and we may not always get it right first time, unlike the Regiment !
