News

TheBusinessDesk.com North West has announced The Standing Tall Foundation as its new chosen charity partner for 2021.

TheBusinessDesk.com will support the Foundation over the next 12 months and help raise awareness of the STF as well as its charity challenge which will see 40 climbers join Andy to climb Africa’s highest peak, Kilimanjaro, in March 2022. STF has also been announced as charity partner for the publisher’s Rainmaker Awards, Northern Leadership Awards and its annual North West Manchester Summer BBQ.

Lee-J Walker, joint managing director of TheBusinessDesk.com, said: “The work that Andy and The Standing Tall Foundation is doing to help both veterans and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds is an inspiration and during these challenging times, it has never been more important. “Working with Andy and the team gives us an excellent opportunity to help people in the community who may not otherwise get the help and support they need. “Not only are we looking forward to supporting STF over the next 12 months, I will also be joining Andy for next year’s charity challenge.”

Andy Reid MBE said: “We are delighted with the support from Lee-J Walker and his team at TheBusinessDesk.com “Their help and regional reach to raising awareness of the work we do will ensure more people are aware of the support that we can provide to society’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged. “I look forward to working with TheBusinessDesk.com over the next year.”

Without doubt one of the best feelings is helping someone on their way to getting their life back. We at the Foundation thrive on the opportunities to make a positive impact with a regular member of our community who may have fell on hard times.

One such individual come to our attention. A Veteran of many years service in the RAF, who was facing adverse problems and had lost his business. The Foundation was pleased to be able to respond to this individual positively and supported him with training he desperately required to place him in a better situation.

Andy Reid MBE said: “this individual contacted me direct and my Foundation was able respond and working in tandem with one of our Foundation Partners, KH Plant Training, we were able to meet his needs immediately. A great example of what we call Business and Charity working together. Sometimes its about a hand up, not a hand out.”

If your business would like to work with the STF as a Foundation Partner get in touch ….. because its the right thing to do! 

The Foundation is delighted to welcome Paramount Digital as its latest partner. The leading digital marketing agency based in St Helens has a reputation for creative campaigns that deliver clear, transparent results for clients.

Dave Hunter MD of Paramount said: “The work that Andy and The Standing Tall Foundation does to help both veterans and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds is an inspiration and has never been more important. It’s a real credit to the town, so for us it was a no brainer that we should be supporting it.”

Andy Reid MBE said: “We couldn’t be more pleased to have Dave Hunter and his team at Paramount Digital on board with us. Their breath of knowledge is a god send to the Foundation as we seek to ensure our online presence is relevant and effective.”

Support the STF …… because its the right thing to do!

Check out the information on this site regarding becoming a Foundation Partner.

Testimonial from an individual currently being supported by the STFs Drug and Alcohol Dependency sessions:

“My name is Charles”

“I have been struggling with addiction and complicated Mental Health problems for much of my life. I used to live with the stigma of being an addict, a lot of people don’t see or understand the person behind the disease of addiction and I just needed someone like minded to confide in and who understands me. In a very short time I have experienced tremendous growth, knowledge and self confidence whilst working with Chris and the Standing Tall Foundation. He talks about issues with grace and compassion. He is just the person I had been looking for to help me with my recovery. I can confidently say that Chris is making a positive impact on my life. He and the Standing Tall Foundation have my highest respect for the support they are extending to me in my time of need.”

John F Tabern CEO of the STF said: “The Foundation is delighted to be able to help this individual with support via Chris. We pride ourselves on delivering support where it is needed, at ground level for people frequently overlooked by society.”

The Foundation is delighted to announce its partnership with La Vita Nuova, a Health and Wellbeing Consortium based in Eccleston, St. Helens. They are a clinical consortium offering a range of private clinical services which include Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, Podiatry/ Chiropody and Aesthetics services, however they have plans to grow their portfolio of services, with phases two and three opening in the summer, offering a wider range of clinic services such as General Surgery, Dental Cosmetics and Women’s Health clinics. Their aim in the future is to work alongside local NHS bodies to help improve healthcare within the local St Helens community.

Both Nicola Sung and Kerrie Mitchell (Managing Directors at LVN) have a strong passion to help the people of St. Helens, as do the rest of the consortium members and staff. Therefore they are extremely pleased to be supporting The Standing Tall Foundation. Over the next few weeks they have committed to helping the STF raise both money and awareness.

Speaking about the new partnership Nicky commented: “As our husbands serve in a range of public service forces and given that many of our friends and family have been affected by mental health challenges, we feel that we are able to reach out to the circles that we frequent and ask for heart felt donations for this cause. We wish The Standing Tall Foundation the very best of luck over the coming months and following the meetings we have had with the Team recently, we are more than certain that they will not fail to achieve their goals!”

Andy Reid MBE speaking about the new Partnership said: “Its fantastic that the Foundation has secured this opportunity to work with Nicky and her team at La Vita Nuova, we will be working closely with them on a number of initiatives as we move forward.”

The STF was delighted to run its innovative Goals After Pandemic (GAP) programme for a cohort of Willowbrook volunteers last week. The initiative was well received and we were delighted with the all round positive feedback. The GAP Project focuses on mental health, well-being, social interaction and goal setting in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic and seeks to provide support to members of the community, who may have faced the challenges of isolation or other factors brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and perhaps now face the daunting prospect of re-entering the work environment or facing the prospect of looking for a new career or job.

Ian Turnbull – Volunteer Engagement Lead for Willowbrook said: “just to say a huge thank you to Phil in particular for delivering the GAP course to our volunteers last week. The feedback has been excellent from all the volunteers and hopefully this is the start of a great partnership between Willowbrook and Standing Tall.”

The one day programme was delivered by Phil Parr who is the STFs lead for mental health counselling: “it was a very enjoyable thing to do, but more importantly I feel it delivered a meaningful and helpful day to those who attended.”

Some feedback from attendees:

• Extremely useful, lots of helpful information learned, good self help techniques. Presented superbly.
• Tutor was excellent and the information delivered in an easy to understand manner. Well planned and well lead.
• Mindfulness demonstration was excellent.
• Phil was very open, friendly and knowledgeable.
• Very interesting and stimulating course. Will be recommending to others.
• Very relaxed and well run course with the right mixture of talking and participation.
• As you know a whole day of training can be overwhelming however the time just flew by as the subject was so interesting and most importantly for me without jargon. The timings on each session was just right to allow us to let the information sink in. When this pandemic is over there will be so many people impacted by it and hopefully I can use your training to help others.

The STF are delighted with this feedback and plan to run further day courses, for which the Foundation has secured some grant funding. If your organisation would like to hear more about this innovative day course, get in touch.

The STF recognised and prioritised from the start that support for individuals suffering the blight of drug and alcohol dependency would be a part of its portfolio of programmes to help with this most debilitating of mental health illnesses. The consequences of this scourge of modern society are nothing short of devastating and potentially fatal. Working hard for months to get the Foundation set up and helping many individuals along the way, the STF is proud of what it has achieved in a short time; however it is pleased to reveal that three weeks ago it launched its support programme in relation to drug and alcohol dependency and that it is proceeding well, with clients signing up to be mentored through a 12 Step programme designed to help change lives for the better.

Delivery of this successful and proven format is by the Foundations own Chris Nicholson, who is committed to sharing the methodology to as many people in need as possible. In keeping with the STFs ethos, Chris draws on his own lived experience in making solid connections with the individuals he supports.

Andy Reid MBE commented: ‘We couldn’t be prouder of the way Chris has stepped up and driven this programme for the Foundation. Like myself, he uses his own life experiences to make the support he is delivering relevant. Bonds of trust are not forged easily, but when individuals in need see that the help they are receiving is from someone who knows where they are, then trust is not only established, but is sustainable.’

Chris Nicholson (pictured) added: ‘I’m very proud to be part of Andy’s Foundation and of the opportunity it is affording me to pass on what was so freely given to me. It is something I am very passionate about doing and am committed to.’

If you know of someone or indeed you are in of support yourself please contact us for further information.

When we at the Foundation started to think about what events might be within our scope, we weren’t really thinking of climbing Kilimanjaro. That was until we got talking to Stuart Holmes of Elite FX, whose incredible enthusiasm has given us the confidence to mount this incredible expedition with forty other hardy souls. Stuart is now very much part of the Foundation family, pitching in with all manner of matters relating to the progression of the Standing Tall Foundation. Not only has he given so much of his time freely, we are delighted to say that he has now made his company a Foundation Partner.

Andy Reid MBE said of the partnership:

‘It’s been fantastic working with Stuart for the last few months on our plans for Kilimanjaro and I am thrilled that Elite FX have made this commitment to the Standing Tall Foundation, moving forward.’

Stuart Holmes – CEO of Elite FX said:

‘Elite FX’s focus is on providing a service for elite sportspeople, businesses and sporting bodies who have overseas income from revenue, salary or sponsorship deals and need to repatriate that income to different countries all around the world. I have over 18 year’s extensive experience in finance and foreign exchange, but started Elite with my late wife Nicki in 2019.’

He added further:

‘When I met Andy Reid it was clear that we had incredible shared values when it came too tackling mental health challenges both in ex-servicemen and in the wider society and we have committed to working together to effect change in those areas moving forward under the Standing Tall Foundation.’

The CoseyHomes Group has become a Foundation Partner.

Andy Reid MBE said of it:

‘I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Mike, Peter and their staff on this journey with us, all the more so, because they’re a local well respected company. The Foundation is proud of its St Helens roots and what it hopes to achieve for our communities, CoseyHomes involvement is a huge boost to aims.’

The Coseyhomes Group incorporates:

CoseyHomes – Chartered Surveyors
CoseyRentals – Lettings & Property Management
CoseyProperties – Property Development & Construction

Across its three divisions it now employs more than 60 staff members – the majority of which are based here in St Helens.

Peter Outten of CoseyRentals said:

‘I personally first met Andy Reid over 10 years ago whilst he was viewing potential investment properties. Since then we have met and spoke with Andy at many networking, community and charitable events throughout St Helens. We’ve also been lucky enough to be in attendance during a few of Andy’s guest speaker appearances and have always been touched and motivated by his story and determination – especially as he is a local lad, as am I.’

Peter added:

‘We were delighted to see the birth of The Standing Tall Foundation and knew that this would be a project that we would very much like to be a part of. After speaking with both Andy and John it was apparent that we had similar objectives, especially relating to our great town St Helens and the benefits to local people within our community. We are looking forward to contributing our time, effort and thoughts towards the foundation.’

Mike Cosy

Emma Willis manufactures and retails men’s clothing, specialising in bespoke and ready to wear shirts, with a shop in Jermyn Street and factory and HQ in Gloucester.

Speaking to the Foundation Emma said:

“In 2009 I set up Style for Soldiers, a charity to support injured and transitioning service personnel, with smart, well-fitting clothing and reunion events. Our Style for Soldiers Christmas party is the largest reunion for injured personnel in the country. I met Andy Reid MBE at Headley Court Military Rehabilitation Hospital which I visited regularly from 2009, to measure the patients for a bespoke shirt as a gift.”

Emma was deeply moved and shocked by the number of casualties returning from the conflict in Afghanistan and talked of the servicemen, women and medical staff she met there:

“They astounded me with their courage, care for each other and selflessness but I have to say Andy was one of the most astounding. Despite his unimaginable challenges he radiated strength and spirit and offered to help the charity in any way, in order to support his fellow injured veterans, by motivational speaking at any event. I took him at his word and a few months later he was on the stage at The Cavalry and Guards Club at our first Christmas party for beneficiaries and potential supporters giving the most brilliant and very funny speech!”

Emma says of Andy Reid MBE:

“His charisma, humour and strength of character, telling his extraordinary story of survival and resilience, has helped to give hope and strength to so many of the veterans we have supported as well as highlighted to hundreds in the civilian world the courage and sacrifice of our Forces.”

Marks and Spencer:

“Marks & Spencer donated over 250 suits to Style for Soldiers and having met Andy at the London Fashion week event and we were asked to invite him to speak to the entire London sales force and give the end of year staff prizes. The room of hundreds of M&S staff were without doubt changed from that day, Andy ‘blew them away’ as our military friends say!”

Emma comments on Andy, his work and the family man:

“I have the utmost admiration for Andy, we have worked together on so many veteran care matters and events and he would be my first port of call for advice on Style for Soldiers. His wisdom, kindness and selflessness are evident in all he does, including being a wonderful husband to Claire and father to William and Scarlet. I look forward to supporting The Standing Tall Foundation in the future, confident that where Andy’s energy, thought and care is directed will be of the greatest benefit to others.”