October 2022

ST HELENS SCARECROW BALL 2022 PROVES A GREAT SUCCESS!

Saturday night saw our annual Scarecrow Ball in aid of the Foundation and Willowbrook Hospice. What an amazing night!

Held at the impressive Totally Wicked Saints Stadium in St Helens, we welcomed over 160 people to the black tie event, which guaranteed a night of entertainment, fun and laughter.

The fantastic Paul Crone from ITV’s Granada Reports compered the night, with entertainment provided by Miguel Doforo’s amazing (and slightly scary!) dance troupe, and musical entertainment from the brilliant band “On Demand” and DJ. They certainly got the dance floor moving!

In the name of fundraising, we of course included a raffle and auction which proved to be hugely successful, raising over £6000 for both charities. We were delighted that the infamous Johnny Vegas was in attendance, helping to raise over £1000 on two of the auction lots, one of which was a bespoke Sony Playstation guitar made by Retro Chimps and signed by the man himself.

A massive thank you to everyone that attended and helped us to raise much needed funds for both organisations, we couldn’t have done it without you!

Thank you to all our sponsors: Smooth Commercial Law, GPE NW Ltd and our table sponsors – EWE Move, Cinema Bar, Reds Cafe, Blue Trust, Pheasant Lodge and Prism.

In addition to this, Bouquet Residence for donating the beautiful venue dressings, and all the other businesses and organisations that donated auction or raffle prizes, helping us to raise so much on the evening.

Lastly, a huge thank you to the volunteers and staff members from our foundation and Willowbrook Hospice who dedicated so much time to planning and organising the event.

Here are some pictures from the night – the official ones are to follow!

We hope to see you all again next year!

WORLD RECORD BROKEN WITH FIRST EVER BURGER TO REACH SUMMIT OF MOUNT KILIMANJARO!

As if it wasn’t enough for our Colonel Andy Reid MBE to become the first ever triple amputee to reach the summit, there was another world record also broken on that momentous day. In collaboration with our sponsor Uber Eats, Andy was able to “deliver” the first ever vegan burger to the top of the mountain, 19,341 feet above sea level!

The burger was made prior at British Burger chain Honest Burger in Manchester, and was safely vacuum packed and transported in the team’s luggage in preparation for the epic journey it was about to go on.

It took six days for the burger to travel from the foot to the top of the highest mountain in Africa. The burger travelled approximately 4,522 miles from where it was made to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro by car, plane and on foot by Andy Reid MBE and his team of climbers.

As the team battled with altitude sickness and tummy bugs, we were unsure whether it would make it to the top, but we are delighted to say it did, and it has now broken a world record for the highest altitude burger delivery on land!

Matthew Price, Uber Eats UK and Ireland General Manager at Uber said: “When we heard Andy Reid and the incredible team at The Standing Tall Foundation wanted to work with us to take our deliveries to new heights and break the World Record for the highest altitude delivery on land, we jumped at the chance to be involved. We were proud to raise awareness and funds for an important charity which is dedicated to promoting the physical and mental health of communities across the UK.”

MBE Andy Reid, co-founder of The Standing Tall Foundation said: “In October 2009, I stepped on a Taliban improvised explosive device while on patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan and was badly injured. Each year in October, I set myself an ambitious challenge to raise money and give back to the associations that helped me and my family through that difficult time and this year, that was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. After the challenges we’ve all faced in the last couple of years, I wanted to make this year’s task a special one, which is why we at The Standing Tall Foundation decided to partner with Uber Eats and break the World Record for the highest altitude burger delivery on land. The climb was hard but so much fun and I’m over the moon we managed to break a world record in the process.”

Tom Barton, Co-founder of Honest Burgers said: “At Honest Burgers, we’re always looking for ways to grow our delivery business, so trying to get a burger to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro felt like the next logical step! It’s been a really fun project to partner with Uber Eats and The Standing Tall foundation on – we’re super proud that one of our burgers has broken the World Record for the highest altitude burger delivery on land. Next up the Moon!”

The World Record attempt raised vital funds for The Standing Tall Foundation to allow us to continue the important work we do by providing free professional mental health and addiction support and services to all community groups.

OUR COLONEL ANDY BECOMES FIRST TRIPLE AMPUTEE TO SUMMIT MOUNT KILIMANJARO!

Our Co-Founder and Colonel of the Foundation Andy Reid MBE has defied all the odds to become the first ever triple amputee to reach the summit of the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. 

Andy and his specialist team set out on the 29th September to begin this incredible challenge. Over the course of the next two weeks, they trekked for up to 8 hours a day, covering 10km per day most days, to reach the staggering height of 19,341 feet. 

Andy not only had to overcome the physical difficulties of the terrain, but also endure the constant pain and exhaustion he must have been feeling. As a triple amputee, he used 200% more energy than a normal person would to walk in these conditions. 

 After nearly 2 weeks of constant trekking over difficult terrain and conditions, Andy overcame all of this , and of course altitude sickness to summit a whole day earlier than expected on the 12th October. He is an inspiration to us all, and a poignant reminder that with pure determination, resilience and mental strength, we can overcome adversity to achieve anything we set our minds to. This is such a testament to the Foundation, and amazing example of an ex-veteran who has suffered life changing injuries, but not let them defy him. 

 We are super proud of him and everyone else that took part in this amazing challenge. 

 Special thanks once again to our sponsor Cash Converters UK for supporting us and Andy, and to everybody that has donated so far. 

If you would still like to donate money to this incredible challenge you can through Andy’s Just Giving Page HERE.

Here are some pictures from the trip to give you an idea…..
Kili_photos

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