July 2023

This was a great opportunity to showcase our very own Veterans select team, made up of players from the Army, RAF, Navy, STF Team members and civilians. This was the first time they had played together as a team and great to be representing a Tri-Service of players.

If you are interested in joining our STF Veterans select team, please get in touch!

Our stable of Foundation Partners is steadily expanding, and their breadth of expertise is astonishing. We were therefore delighted when we learned that IT  recruitment specialists Cerco wanted to come onboard. We warmly welcome you to the fold!

Who are Cerco?

Cerco launched in 1989 as Granada IT Services, initially providing practical courses for candidates looking to start a career in IT. In 2003 they added a recruitment / contract arm enabling them to place trainees directly into fully paid work. From 2010 Cerco evolved to become the business it is today – offering free training and recruitment opportunities to the right candidates and providing a quality, trained workforce to clients. Cerco has more than 30 years of experience as a technical services business and provider of highly motivated, skilled and versatile IT professionals to industry leaders. Amongst their clients they are proud to include BT, Fujitsu, Computacenter, NCR, Bybox, Vista and HP amongst many others. By taking candidates with the best potential, and training them to a high standard in both technical ability and customer service, Cerco can consistently meet the high expectations of its clients nationwide.

Chris Barlow, Managing Director had this to say:

“Since 1989, Cerco has been helping individuals make their way into the IT sector, via a combination of both training and job opportunities through our industry partners. Our recognised training programme assists you in becoming a successful candidate in the IT world, and more recently moving into the cyber security space. Our team of experts are waiting to support you on your journey to IT.”

Thanks for coming on board and supporting the Foundation and what we do, we look forward to working together in the future!

Here at STF, our key aim is to promote the mental and physical health of all community groups, which we further extend to those in financial hardship via the provision of grants, resources or services made available to us.

We do this by delivering free Mental Health Counselling, addiction support and Physical health activities.  It has been incredibly busy at the Foundation in the last few months, as we have not only helped people on an individual basis, but also launched various new group sessions and initiatives aimed at helping community groups and people in the work place with their Wellbeing.

Here are some of the highlights from the last few months:

WELLBEING DAYS

Yorkshire Regiment

We recently facilitated a Wellbeing day at Dale Barracks for nearly 400 soldiers and officers of the Yorkshire Regiment, where our Founder Andy Reid MBE previously served.

Andy kicked off  the day with an opening motivational talk to rally the troops. Our lead Mental Health Counsellor Phil and Wellbeing Advisor Chris, then led various group sessions throughout the day, tackling Mental health and Wellbeing, and Addiction prevention.

Our partner agency Allisons Financial were also on hand to help out with any Financial issues they may have faced, and to offer some helpful advice.

You can read the full story HERE.

MEDITATION SESSIONS

Our lead Counsellor Phil has also been facilitating Mindfulness and Meditation sessions to groups at their place of work. He recently delivered sessions at our Foundation partner North West Waste Consultants and more recently, Home Start in St Helens, for their staff and volunteers.

Phil used these sessions to demonstrate the calming effects that meditation has on the Amygdala part of the brain. This results in improved stress management and the ability to solve problems more efficiently.

EXCERCISE & WELLBEING SESSIONS LAUNCHED!

As part of our “Wellbeing Wednesday” here at the STF Hub, and in addition to the Walk for Wellness sessions we are already running, we have introduced our first Exercise and Wellbeing Class.

This is aimed at all ages and abilities, and the purpose is to improve people’s overall fitness and wellbeing by introducing exercises that can be adapted to all capabilities. As the weather has been so nice recently, we have been able to set up on the grass outside the offices which has added an extra benefit to get people out in the sunshine!

If you feel like getting out of the office for an hour and having fun while getting fit then please do join us from 12pm – 1pm every Wednesday!

We cannot thank our Partners enough for the continued support they have shown. This enables us to deliver our Mental Health Counselling and Addiction support services, as well as helping people on a group and individual level via our own initiatives, as well as the help we receive from partners.

MEET OUR LATEST FOUNDATION PARTNERS

The first half of the year has seen us welcome some amazing new partners to our Foundation family, we are delighted to have you on board! Our latest additions are as follows:

COMMUNICATIONS PLUS

Communications Plus are an Award-Winning Telecoms Provider based in St Helens. They are a trusted and valued provider of telecommunications solutions to consumers and businesses across the UK. From their head offices in Rainford and Sunderland, and as an O2 Excel Partner, they offer the best deals and prices on business phones and SIM only tariffs, plus provide broadband, landline phone systems and VoIP solutions to thousands of businesses.

You can read the full story about our partnership HERE.

INTEGRAL LEGAL

Integral Legal work with their clients as trusted members of their team.  They aim to be an extended department of your business; as advisors upon whom you can always rely throughout the conduct of your case – from inception to conclusion and at every stage in between.  They acknowledge the lack of personal touch that a lot of their competitors have with their clients and strive to be the exact opposite of that.

You can read the full story about our partnership HERE.

EVOLUTION FITNESS XL

Based locally in St Helens, Evolution Fitness was set up by local lad Mike Garner. The ethos behind the gym is that “hard work pays off”. They reject all forms of negativity, motivate everyone to be included and celebrate all forms of achievement. They want to be more than a gym, and want to support everyone to reach their goals, break their limits and feel like they’re part of a like-minded family.

You can read the full story about our partnership HERE.

EMPORIA MARKETING LTD

Based in Liverpool, Emporia are a full service global media and marketing communications agency, offering a plethora of Outdoor, Media and Creative Services to “empower your brand”.

You can read the full story about our partnership HERE.

We have also had some brilliant meetings and partnership talks recently with The Amputation Foundation, St Helens Chamber, Hughes Driver Training and Apex Foundation to name but a few!

BECOMING A FOUNDATION PARTNER INCENTIVE

Calling all you NEW Corporates out there! We are always looking to enhance our partner stable, and welcome any new partners or corporate donations with open arms! If you are interested in joining us, please do get in touch. You can find out more on our partner page HERE.

We are offering an incentive to join at the minute, and if you become a partner before September 23, you will get a table of 10 worth £1800 for our upcoming Gala Dinner and Awards Night! This will be held at the spectacular Concorde Conference Centre and will be an amazing networking opportunity and chance to meet all our other wonderful partners. 

You can find out more about the night HERE.

BECOME A FRIEND OF THE FOUNDATION

If you are a smaller business or want to support our charity, and can’t afford to make a large donation to become a Foundation Partner – then why not become a Friend of the Foundation?

You can make regular monthly donations starting from as little as £10 a month or £2.50 per week and this money will be solely used to provide mental health counselling and addiction support sessions.

Please go to our Just Giving Page HERE and select Monthly donations.

Huge congratulations to our Founder Andy Reid MBE as he won the Inspiration of the Year Award last week at the British Ex-Forces in Business Awards 2023.

The winners of the awards were announced and celebrated at a glittering awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel’s prestigious Great Room on Park Lane. TV presenter and broadcaster Jacqui Oatley MBE returned as the host to welcome over 1,100 business and military leaders to the landmark event. 

Andy fought off stiff competition from the other finalists:

Brian Wheeler, NATS
Daniel Mitchell, Auto Intelligent Motor Services
David Duncan, Vistry Group
Duncan Foster, Serco
Joe Raw, AWS
Karen Kristiansen, Ministry of Defence
Mandy Hickson, Experience from the Front Line
Rebecca Foran-Coutts, BAE Systems
Simon Lees, The Access Group
Sophie Cook, Sophie Cook Talks
Terry Clark, Serco

The British Ex-Forces in Business Awards is the world’s largest celebration of military veterans in second careers. The high-profile annual programme and event uncovers the achievements of ex-military, presenting them as important role models for current and future service leavers. The Awards highlight the military-gained skills and values that have helped enable their second career success and recognise the organisations that have supported them.

Massive congratulations to Andy and all the Finalists and winners on the night, what a monumental achievement!