Support Our Soldiers

I received an email today, as I am on this organisation's mailing list and so wanted to share it. Even if Christmas seems a looooong way off (it does to me I am happy to say), preparations are already being made within this organisation to send extra Christmas goodies to our brave men and women in Afghanistan as they have done every year and all through the year, since 2003 . 

I would appreciate it if British (and US since we are all in this together) bloggers could run the logo in their sidebars, or a post every Friday, with a link to the SOS Parcel Appeals.

The Support our Soldiers Christmas Parcel Appeal 2009 is now launched.

Please help us show your support to our brave lads and lasses away from home this year.

50p will be donated to BLESMA (British Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association) for every parcel sent.

We are pleased to have full endorsement from the MOD for our campaign. This is their official announcement:

"The MOD welcomes SOS‘s work. The aspiration to provide support to the men and women on the front line is shared by many of the public. This charity has arranged with the British Forces Post Office to send high quality parcels to named Service personnel on operations in a way which causes the minimum of disruption to the operational postal service.” 

More details can be found by clicking the Facebook link here

or their website here (and in my sidebar left)

DONATE A FIVER HERE

If you can help with time, parcels of your own, or messages and donatons, please contact the wonderful mother who set this up some time ago, or any of her team - using the details in their site. And please include a message of support for our soldiers when you make a donation.

Other organisations which have received a good deal of publicity in the press and on the news of late and which could also use your help are HelpforHeroes, who having raised some £25 million in charity, have just opened their first Army Recovery Centre, one of two planned to support existing facilities such as Selly Oak etc.  

"It’s about the blokes, our men and women of the Armed Forces. It’s about Derek, a rugby player who has lost both his legs, it’s about Carl whose jaw is wired up so he has been drinking through a straw. It’s about Richard who was handed a mobile phone as he lay on the stretcher so he could say goodbye to his wife. It’s about Ben, it’s about Steven and Andy and Mark, it’s about them all. They are just blokes but they are our blokes; they are our heroes. We want to help our heroes." (HelpforHeroes)

That always, always chokes me up. Buy a wristband or make a donation PLEASE.

And of course AfghanHeroes, a wonderful new support charity set up by a group of mothers who have lost their sons -  and which I mentioned in my post below..

Thanks everyone

Comments

[Andy]

Timing.

You know, I actually tried to put that banner on my blog, but it's tiny no matter what I do.

[alison]

I know. I couldn't find the right words for your post

Yes it is tiny. The original file size is very small, unfortunately:

http://supportoursoldiers.co.uk/downloads.html

[Andy]

Silly me, though, as I recognize something I left out at my place (Don't want to go back in with an "Update" sort of thing, as that sounds cheap given the subject matter). The presentation of the medal to his family was made at The White House yesterday, which was the occasion for me posting it.

[Buck]

re: your post, Andy. There's a "Presidential Remarks" link at the citation site. I read it and noted the date. While I realize Obama was reading something that was written for him (as opposed to BY him) I have to give him props for the effort, even though it's part of his job.

Alison: It's a great good thing to see all the UK troop support organizations!

[alison]

And consider yourself deleted again Red A. I hope you get a girlfriend soon, troll. Hovering over A Tangled Web like a lonely heart and reacting here like a gossipy schoolgirl is a tad unmanly and very bizarre. If you are a girl, which I think you might be (you are pretending to be at least two on your own blog), well, then life in Ireland must be riveting. Literally.

[DSD]

The Roleplaying Games convention I help to run donated £2000 to Help for Heroes this year.

http://www.conceptionuk.org/charity.php

Scroll down for pic of the cute new family addition and moi...

[DSD]

I always assumed Red Avenger had a deeply committed relationship with his own sockpuppets. Humans are clearly far too much for him/her/it to cope with.

[alison]

That's fantastic DSD. I have a triathlon for HfH and SOS coming up in October and will put up a link soon. They could well be betting on me NOT finishing as I keep putting my back out!

She's gorgeous! Thanks for the pic

[jameshigham]

I'll get onto this this weekend.

[alison]

Thanks guys by the way for promoting this on your blogs. Fantastic :)

[Kris, in New England]

Alison - I may live in America but I always keep our brave warriors in my heart - American and British and all others as well. They and their families sacrifice so much to protect the things that so many of the rest of us take for granted.

My dearest friend's nephew has already done a tour in Iraq. It was my honor to send him many care packages - including one filled with Christmas lights and ornaments. You see - he provided security on a transport route that was used exclusively by American and British personnel. So he decided he wanted to decorate a grove of huge olive trees - for Christmas. Said it was his patriotic duty to provide the first Christmas tree in a muslim nation. And he did - the pictures were fantastic. They left it decorated for one day - the troops went wild.

[Laura]

I would like to make a donation if I could get a "personal thank you" from David Beckham. And by a " personal thank you" I mean wild sex.

Seriously, I will get some bracelets. And I will tell people David gave them to me after we had sex- as a personal thank you don't you know.

[alison]

What a great story Kris. Id love to see the pics..

Laura, you and me both :D