News

In September this year, the Standing Tall Foundation acquired two new part-time prevention support workers to provide crucial Housing and Benefits Support to those in need.

Until recently, Shauni Ward and Jess McCarthy-Scarsbrook delivered their service via the Teardrops Charity in St. Helens, but this has recently had to close. Between them they will cover Housing-related issues and Benefits & Welfare advice and support, consolidating our team, our portfolio of services and our one stop shop proposition for people who are in crisis.

People present to STF with multi-complex needs. We have seen an increasing number of clients come through our doors with Mental Health and Addiction issues due to underlying problems with their housing or benefits situation.  All of our STF support is free at point of entry. Over 90% of our clients are unemployed, living in poverty or acute financial difficulty.

Shauni and Jess are experienced with a proven track record of working with clients to successful outcomes. They bring with them a waiting list of 40 people who need urgent intervention, moreover the closure of Teardrops Charity means that these clients can only rely on the nonspecific support they may be able to access through Citizens Advice. There is a real need for an understanding of the multi-faceted and complex issues these individuals can face with mental health and drug/alcohol addiction. STF is well positioned due to the work it carries out and the ‘Lived Experience’ it carries within its staff.

Combining our collective strengths, knowledge and learning and bringing this new post into the STF team will enable us to offer a streamlined pathway of support, avoiding unnecessary time delays and for a vulnerable person to have to deal with multiple agencies.

In the aftermath of COVID Teardrops saw a 200% increase in demand for local services to provide support with housing, welfare and benefits advice.  Year on year STF has seen similar increases, in 2024 we are projecting support in the region of 3130 clients across all our interventions and 750 specifically for addiction support.  

Shauni and Jess will bring immediate intervention, supporting people at the earliest possible stages with housing, welfare and cost-of-living challenges.

We know that people are more likely to access the support they need if it is in one place, aligned, and fundamentally in a friendly and non-judgemental safe space.  The STF Hub offers a unique offer of person-centred, holistic support; helping people who are at risk of crisis with mental and physical health services, alcohol and substance misuse, wellness coaching, housing and benefit advice, financial budgeting and planning, CV development, employment and education support.

Andy Reid MBE said “ We are delighted to welcome the girls on board and look forward to being able to support even more people in our town with the issues they may be facing.” 

Shauni Ward said “Supporting the community is at the heart of the Standing Tall Foundation. Jess and I are excited to be joining an amazing team of people doing what we love. We have a passion to help and support the people within our community.”

If you need help or support with housing and benefits, mental health or addiction support please contact the Standing Tall Foundation today:

Referrals@standingtallfoundation.org.uk

IT’S TIME TO VOTE!

Our Founder, Veteran and triple amputee, Andy Reid MBE has reached the final of the Inspiration Award category of Soldiering On Awards 2024. As public voting opens this week to choose the winner from three worthy finalists, the Army Benevolent Fund is calling on the local community to back Andy, who is an ambassador for the charity.

The National Soldiering On awards recognise the outstanding achievements of individuals, teams and businesses who work in support of the Armed Forces Community. Online public voting for the winner of the Inspiration Award opens on 23rd July and closes on 26th August – visit: www.soldieringon.org.  

The Army Benevolent Fund (ABF) nominated Andy for the ‘Inspiration Award’ in recognition of his outstanding achievements, as a fundraiser for the charity and founder of the Standing Tall Foundation, based in St Helen’s, as well as his courage in living with the serious injuries sustained during his Army career.  

Corporal Andy Reid was injured serving with the Yorkshire Regiment in Afghanistan in 2009. Andy survived an IED explosion, in which he lost his right arm, right leg below the knee and left leg above the knee. On his return home, Andy astounded people with his recovery.  

Having fought back from countless operations, Andy’s determination and strength have enabled him to redefine his life and find inspiration in serving others. Throughout his journey, Andy has received the support of the Army Benevolent Fund – starting with help to fund adaptions to make his home more accessible. Andy has raised thousands for the ABF which marks its 80th anniversary this year. He is dedicated to raising awareness of the charity’s support for soldiers, former soldiers and their families as an ambassador, most recently at events with Her Majesty The Queen and author, Sir Max Hastings.

A published author and accomplished motivational speaker, in 2020 Andy established the Standing Tall Foundation in St Helen’s with John Tabern (now CEO). The Standing Tall Foundation promote the mental and physical health of all community groups, by providing counselling, addiction support and physical activity initiatives and providing grants, items and services to prevent hardship.

Andy has pushed himself to the limit to support his foundation, the ABF and other causes. His daredevil fundraising includes tandem skydives and abseiling down the Big One in Blackpool; climbing Snowdon and kayaking hundreds of miles. In 2022, he summited Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for the Standing Tall Foundation, the first triple amputee from the UK to do so. Andy was awarded an MBE in 2019 for voluntary service to veterans and people with disabilities and received the Pride of St Helens Award 2022 for Courage.

Andy said: “I am deeply honoured to have been nominated by the Army Benevolent Fund and to have reached the finals of the Soldiering On Awards. I keep pushing myself forward to show other guys injured in service or someone who is just struggling with life, what can be done, that it’s not the end of the world and you can carry on as normal a life as possible. If just one person gets inspired to make a small step forward in their life, it will be worth every step I take – and all the win I need.!”

The Army Benevolent Fund is the Army’s national charity. Since 1944, the charity has been here for soldiers, former soldiers and their families – supporting them through all of life’s challenges. Throughout August, it is celebrating its 80th anniversary by sharing stories of the inspiring people and partners it supports – seeing Andy’s achievements recognized as winner of the Soldiering On Awards would be the ‘icing on the cake’

Brigadier (Ret’d) Peter Monteith, Chief Operating Officer, Army Benevolent Fund, said: “The Army Benevolent Fund is delighted that our ambassador, Andy Reid MBE, is a finalist in the Inspiration category of the Soldiering On Awards 2024. Andy has experienced life-changing injuries but does not let them define him. He is dedicated to serving others – raising thousands for our charity, establishing his own foundation, and motivating many people through his story of resilience and recovery. Congratulations to Andy and his fellow finalists – reaching this stage is a wonderful achievement in itself!”

The winner in the ‘Inspiration Award’ category will be chosen by public vote from a shortlist of three finalists, and will be announced along with the other categories at a ceremony hosted by Jeremy Vine on 16th October. 

Online public voting for the winner of the Inspiration Award opens on 23rd July and closes on 26th August – visit: www.soldieringon.org.  

We are delighted to announce that Lindab have become the latest Affiliate partner of the Foundation. An affiliate partner is someone who has donated goods or services to us free of charge.

As you all may be aware, we are currently in the process of converting a property in St Helens into a 4 bedroom HMO to help Veterans in the town. Lindab work closely with B-Engineering, who are another of our wonderful Affiliate partners working on the project. Because of this, Lindab have kindly donated all the equipment needed for the ventilation system for the house.

Lindab want to contribute to tomorrow’s indoor climate. They also want to contribute to a better climate for our planet. They have a broad offering to the ventilation industry – from individual components to complete indoor climate solutions. They offer an unlimited range of functional, simple, economical and environmental ventilation solutions for both residential and commercial properties.

We are extremely grateful to everyone that has stepped forward to help with this exciting and much needed housing offering in St Helens.  Last year there was a 14% rise in homelessness in Armed Forces veterans, despite the government pledge and £8.8 million housing fund and the launch of Op Fortitude. We know that we are only making a tiny dent in the fight against homelessness, but we still hope to make a big difference.

The HMO will also provide a base for any veterans struggling with their mental health, wellbeing or addiction issues. We can offer them support here at the Foundation with the range of services we currently provide.

If you are a veteran in need, or know somebody that is, please get in touch with us today.

STF held its very first Charity Golf Day on Friday at Houghwood Golf Course and it was a great success! Massive thanks to everybody who took part and supported us on the day. 

We ended up 17 teams, made up predominantly of our Foundation partners and friends of the foundation. Special mention goes to one of our hole sponsors  Signs4Golf who travelled up all the way from Bognor Regis! Huge thanks also goes to our hole sponsors: B-Engineering, Communications Plus and MCR Concrete, as well as our Affiliate Sponsor Integral Legal, and our headline sponsor – Totally Wicked.

The day began at 11.30am for registration and breakfast butties with a shot gun start at 1pm to begin the event. After nearly 5 hours of competitive golf, everyone came back in for drinks and food and to find out the score cards from the day. Congratulations to MCR Concrete who scooped up first prize!

We rounded the night off with a presentation ceremony, raffle and auction. Not forgetting the hilarious comedic entertainment provided by the legendary John Martin. It was a tough crowd but he heckled them very well!

Here are some pictures from the day – we can’t wait for next year!

The Soldiering On Awards 2024 finalists have been revealed today and our Founder Andy Reid MBE is one of them!

Andy is up for the prestigious Inspiration of the Year Award, an award to honour a person that has overcome significant challenges, injury or disability and whose ongoing or past outstanding achievements are an inspiration to others within the Armed Forces Community.

Now in their 14th year, the Soldiering On Awards celebrate excellence within the Armed Forces community across twelve distinct categories, ranging from Family Values to Business Start-Up and Animal Partnership. These awards aim to highlight ordinary individuals accomplishing extraordinary feats.

Leading the selection process, Co-Chairs of Judges Lt Gen (Ret’d) Richard Nugee CB CVO CBE and Debra Allcock-Tyler, CEO of the Directory of Social Change, guided a distinguished panel of independent judges. They meticulously selected 36 finalists from an exceptional pool of nominees, with three finalists chosen
for each category.

A private reception at the House of Lords in July, hosted by Awards Patron the Rt Hon Earl Howe GBE PC, will honour the finalists. The winners will be announced at a spectacular black-tie event at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, 16th October 2024, hosted by special guest presenter Jeremy Vine.

Public voting will determine the winners in two categories: the Animal Partnership Award and the Inspiration Award.

Online voting will open on 23rd July and close on 26th August at www.soldieringon.org.

PLEASE VOTE FOR ANDY!

We are delighted to announce the Finalist shortlist for our forthcoming Gala Dinner & Awards Night on the 19th October! Please see below list of finalists and categories, huge congratulations to everyone that has been shortlisted.

This is the Premier event of the year for the Foundation, in the form of a Gala dinner and Awards Ceremony. This is our way of saying thanks to our partners for their support by presenting awards to recognise this. We will also announce the winner of the prestigious Standing Tall Award. This is presented to the Foundation Partner who has made the biggest impact on the people we support. Not necessarily financial, though this is of course crucially important, but in terms of helping the Foundation support our user group. It doesn’t stop there though, because we have a number of other prestigious awards to hand out on the night, all listed below, to recognise the input of organisations that go beyond the pale in supporting us to do what we do. 

In addition to this, the event will allow to us to raise vital funds to continue the work we do and deliver our Mental and Physical Health, Addiction Support and intervention services.

There will be a drinks reception, 3 course dinner, awards ceremony, live auction, and musical entertainment, not forgetting the fabulous selfie booth mirror!

This will all be rounded off with a fantastic DJ. We want you to get dressed up, eat some amazing food, be entertained, and then dance your socks off, while we all celebrate your amazing support of the Standing Tall Foundation.

Here is a reminder of last year’s categories, winners and photos from the night.

If you want to book a table or places at the event, please get in touch ASAP as places are going fast and you don’t want to miss what is sure to be an epic night to remember!

CHARLIE@STANDINGTALLFOUNDATION.ORG.UK

Congratulations to everyone that has been listed as a finalist, we can’t wait to celebrate with you soon!

Thanks to everyone who came and joined us on Saturday 8th June for our very first football Derby to pay homage to the soldiers, sailors and airmen who landed on D-day and rewrote the future.

Our STF Vets Select team made up of veterans from the Army, Navy and RAF, as well as civilians, took on veterans from Armed Forces Community HQ CIC in our first head to head charity match!

The game was played to mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day and to commemorate an epic tale, planned in Britain and fought on the beaches of Normandy.

The match took place at Ruskin Fitness Village, and there was a great turn out on the day from both sides.

Our lads came away victorious in the end with a 6-0 win and we hope to have a re-match very soon!

Firstly Thank you! What an amazing night it was as we saw over 200 people gather at The Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens on Saturday to attend an intimate yet entertaining event with  our charity founder Andy Reid MBE.

We have so much admiration for Andy  for sharing his incredible and inspirational story of how he has overcome adversity. The insights he divulged into his personal life will also never be forgotten, in particular the “Spicy Rat” story!

Joining Andy on the night was special guest and ex-Saints player Louie McCarthy – Scarsbrook, who enthralled the crowd with his cheeky banter and charisma and also our very own CEO John Tabern. Their stint on the sofa will remain in our memories as questions were fired at them by our effortlessly hilarious host and compere for the night – Pete Emmett.

A special mention is due to our Armed Forces Ambassador and fellow veteran John Massam, who shared his incredibly brave story and how the Foundation has helped him overcome hurdles in life.

An enormous thank you to Jess Cosy who delighted us with her beautiful singing throughout the night.

Finally, thank you to everybody that came, supported Andy and the Foundation, and played a part in making the event on Saturday such a huge success. The auction in particular raised a lot of money with a box of monster munch going for an unbelievable £300!! All the proceeds go directly to helping people in the community with their mental health, addiction issues and overall wellbeing.

We couldn’t have done it without you all! We are truly lucky and grateful to have all you wonderful people in our lives.

Please see below some photos from the night to re-live all the special (and for some of you, slightly hazy) memories!!

It’s been a busy week here at the Foundation, especially for our Addiction Support Worker and Wellbeing Coach Josh.

On Friday he delivered an exercise and wellbeing class for the Amputation Foundation at Ruskin Fitness. Using a combination and sequence of chair based exercises, the group were put through their paces with punches, seated squats and even star jumps! Each exercise was fully adaptable to suit each person’s needs and capabilities.

The Amputees and friends of the Foundation meet every last Friday of the month. If you are interested please get in touch.

Here are some images from the morning:

Our STF Vets Select Team were ecstatic to win their 3rd match in a row as they were victorious over FC Willowbrook at a recent Charity Game.

The lads have only played together a handful of times before, but really came together and played well as a team to emerge with a 3-2 victory on the day.

Our team is made up of Veterans across all 3 services – Army, Navy and RAF but also includes Civilians too. This is really important as it encourages integration between the two rather than “us” and “them” but also creates an amazing sense of camaraderie and team spirit.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the team, please email Josh@standingtallfoundation.org.uk

Here are some highlights from the day: