News

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!

We are delighted to announce the Finalist shortlist for our forthcoming Gala Dinner & Awards Night on the 23^rd September! 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 and new 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, silent auction, and musical entertainment, as well as the fantastic Yorkshire Military band and Corps of drums, not forgetting the incredible opportunity to get a private tour of the Concorde!

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:

https://www.standingtallfoundation.org.uk/2022/09/21/stf-gala-dinner-awards-night-winners/

If you’ve not already secured your table or places, please give us a call or drop us a line to book for what is sure to be a 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!

It’s been a busy week for our therapy team here at the Foundation as Tuesday saw us host a Wellbeing day at Dale Barracks for nearly 400 soldiers and officers of the Yorkshire Regiment.

Our Founder Andy Reid MBE kick started the day with an opening motivational talk to rally the troops. Our lead Mental Health Counsellor Phil and Wellbeing Advisor Chris, then led group sessions tackling Mental health and Wellbeing, and Addiction prevention. Huge thanks to one of our partner agencies – Allisons Financial, as they also ran vital sessions on Financial planning to help set the soldiers up when they leave.

Here are the guys in action!

 

Today it has been announced that the Ministry of Defence has granted 56 organisations and businesses the Silver Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Standing Tall Foundation are one of the lucky organisations!

Fifty six organisations from across the North West of England have been awarded Silver under the Ministry of Defence Employer Recognition Scheme for their support to Defence and the wider Armed Forces community. 

The Employer Recognition Scheme was launched to reward employers who support Defence People objectives and encourage others to do the same. This includes employing serving and former members of the Armed Forces community, and demonstrating flexibility towards training and mobilisation commitments for Reservists and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers. 

This year the following employers from across the North West of England have been awarded Silver: 

AF&V Launchpad Limited
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Ashfields Primary Care Centre
Blackpool FC Community Trust
Bolton Council
Broughton House Veteran Care Village
Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Ltd
Challenge The Wild Ltd
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Connolly Ltd
Crest Medical Ltd
CSC2 Ltd
Cumbria Chamber of Commerce & Industry Ltd
Dig In CIO
DosaFil Limited
Expleo Engineering UK Ltd (EEUK)
Fournet
GGR Group Limited
Go North West
Green Pass Training LTD
Hard Hitters Fitness & Wellbeing
In Professional Development Ltd (InPD)
Irwell Valley Homes
James Fisher Subtech
Keep Safe Solutions Ltd
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Liverpool Football Club Foundation
Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
Manx Radio
Mayfield House Residential Care Home Ltd
Mid Cheshire Hospital Foundation Trust
MJ Quinn Integrated Services Limited
Muller MMID
New Generation Training and Consultancy Limited
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB
Northern Estates Services Limited
Nuclear Waste Services
Roq Ltd
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
SolidTek Limited
Standing Tall Foundation 
The University of Salford
The Walton Centre NHS FT
Thin Blue Line Group Limited
tmc3 Ltd
TransPennine Express
UKK9 Security Group LTD
VTA Recruitment
Warrington & Vale Royal College
Wellacre Academy
William Howard School
Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Workforce Recruitment (North West) Ltd
Wragg Mark-Bell Solicitors Ltd 

Commenting on the announcement of the 2023 Employer Recognition Scheme Silver awards; Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Reserve & Cadets), Major General Marc Overton said: 

“I would like to thank and congratulate the recipients of this year’s Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Awards. A Silver award recognises the fantastic efforts of employers throughout the UK who have both elevated their commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant and provided actual benefits to the Armed Forces Community. 

 The winners should all be proud of their life-changing impact and fresh opportunities they are providing to our Reservists, veterans and their families. The number of winners this year yet again shows that the Armed Forces family talent pool is also providing tangible business benefit.” 

Commenting on the announcement of the 2023 Employer Recognition Scheme Silver awards; Colonel Mark Underhill OBE DL, Chief Executive at the North West of England and the Isle of Man Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (NW RFCA), said: 

“On behalf of the Ministry of Defence we are honoured and delighted to be able to recognise the outstanding support and commitment given to the Armed Forces Covenant by businesses and organisations in the region, through the Employer Recognition Scheme awards. Each recipient has demonstrated not only that their support to the Covenant and the wider Armed Forces community, but also that they are prepared to support their Reservists, Service Leavers, Spouses, Veterans, Cadet Force Adult Volunteers and Cadets in the workplace.” 

We are absolutely delighted to be awarded this and super proud to be recognised for the support we give to the Armed Forces Community.

We are ecstatic to announce that our Founder Andy Reid MBE has been shortlisted as a Finalist for the Inspiration of the Year Award at the British Ex-Forces in Business Awards 2023!!

This is the sixth annual awards, and the flagship showcase of the vast and exceptional talent within the UK’s Armed Forces community. Today the shortlist is revealed from a record-breaking number of over 800 nominations. 

Enriched by the experience of serving their country and equipped with skills and values that employers in other sectors crave, the 15,000-plus people who leave the British Armed Forces each year form a unique and highly capable talent pool. But an awareness gap and a lack of visible role models have presented barriers to service leavers hitting the ground running, while depriving companies of a superb way to fill their skills gaps. 

To tackle these challenges head on, the Ex-Forces in Business Awards were established in 2017. By promoting the vast breadth of achievements by veterans in second careers, the prestigious awards programme, which is the largest of its kind globally, shines a light on the veteran talent pool while also increasing visibility of business role models for service leavers, giving them the confidence to pursue their own post-service aspirations. 

The Ex-Forces in Business Awards have led the way in showcasing the second-career achievements of over 1,200 UK veterans and reservists at events which have been attended by thousands of employers and engaged with by millions more online. This year’s awards programme, which returns to London for the sixth time on 29 June following last month’s Scottish edition, has attracted more than 1,100 nominations. Each one, in its own right, exhibits the business case of hiring from the ex-forces community. 

Lt. Gen. Sir Andrew Gregory, CEO at SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, said: “As a former Chief of Defence People, I know just how important it is to have strong visibility of forces friendly employers and of veterans who have transitioned into meaningful second careers. These awards lead the way in amplifying that visibility, which makes us very proud to once again be the official charity partner of this important awards programme.   

“Our warmest congratulations and sincere thanks go to all those who have been shortlisted for this year’s British Ex-Forces in Business Awards. They set such a tremendous example for how military-gained skills and values can be successfully applied across all sectors.” 

The winners of this year’s British Ex-Forces in Business Awards will be 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 returns as the host to welcome over 1,100 business and military leaders to the landmark event. 

Sponsors of the British Ex-Forces in Business Awards include AECOM, BAE Systems, Barclays, Capgemini, FDM Group, Galliford Try, Kier, QA, Santander, Serco and Vistry Group. The winners are decided by an independent judging panel of business leaders from organisations including Boeing, EY, Irwin Mitchell, Knight Frank, Lloyds Banking Group, MBDA, the Ministry of Defence, the NHS, Serco and Provident Financial Group.

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.

We wish Andy a huge congratulations on making it onto the shortlist as a finalist and fingers crossed for the winners on the night! 

You can view all of the Finalists here:

https://exforcesinbusiness.co.uk/2023-finalists-uk/

Here at the Foundation, our core aim is to help others “because it’s the right thing to do”. This is not only through the variety of mental and physical health and addiction support services we offer, but also on a direct and individual basis where help is needed.

We recently helped a local lady by the name of Gill in Rainford, who having recently lost her husband in sudden circumstances, was finding it impossible to maintain and manage her garden, as well as look after 2 small children. After speaking with her, we offered to pay for it to be landscaped and become a place that she could go and sit and remember her husband with fond memories.

This will hopefully have a positive impact on improving Gill’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as being something that we wanted to do to give back to the community  and bring some happiness into her life after such a tragedy.

Gill has this to say:

My husband died suddenly, leaving me and 2 young children. The Standing Tall Foundation have helped me by making our garden much more manageable and low maintenance so it’s not as overwhelming for me to maintain. It has meant the world to me as it has allowed me more time to look after our children, and has given us a lovely space to sit and reflect. Thank you to Andy, and everyone at the foundation for your help

Here are some before and after pictures!

We wish Gill all the best in the future and her new garden!

If you are struggling or need help  – please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us.

Saturday was an absolutely fantastic day and triumph, as two teams took part in the ultimate obstacle course that was Born Survivor! Situated in the beautiful grounds of Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield, make no mistake, Born Survivor’s not your average mud run or obstacle fun day – this is the ultimate military obstacle course challenge!

Born Survivor courses are set using the natural terrain features with up to 30 epic military training inspired obstacle challenges. Thousands of participants began in the starting cage and prepared to run, climb, haul, leap, slide and crawl as they stampeded round the 10km or 5km course.

Running to raise money for the Foundation and Willowbrook Hospice were Wharton Fitness Works and FlamCo. They both tackled the course with amazing determination, effort and gusto and we salute them!

Not only did they all complete the course, but they also raised over £7k for both charities in the process!! This is an outstanding fundraising effort and we are so grateful to everyone that donated and took part.

Here are some photos from the day:

If you dare take on this adventure you’ll need a stiff upper lip to conquer the challenge alone. We encourage teamwork and even if you don’t enter as a team we know you’ll assist your fellow Survivors in completing the course. But it’s not a race; it’s designed as a challenge for everyone over the age of 16 to tackle at their pace, whatever their ability.

The good news is that the next Born Survivor date has now been released and will take place at Ribble Valley, Gisbourne Lancashire on the 16th September.

Please watch this space for further details and how to register for the next one!!

A huge congratulations are in order for local St Helens Football team Pilkington FC, as they are crowned winners of the North West Counties Football League First Division North Championship! They won 4-0 last night at Bacup Borough to secure the league title and promotion to the Premier Division.

The STF are extremely proud to be the Official Shirt Sponsor Partner of the new Champions, and have supported the team massively over the last year. Our logo can be found in a prominent position on the distinctive green shirts of the players, and we are delighted to gain their support in raising awareness of the Foundation and what we stand for.

We wish them all the best in their rise to the Premier Division, and long may their winning streak continue!

Our Founder Andy Reid MBE had this to say:

It’s great to work in partnership with such an outstanding local sports team, and support each other fully with what we do. I’m really proud to see our logo on their shirts every time they play, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for them!