News

Thanks so much to everyone that came to our Gala dinner and awards night at the majestic Concorde Conference Centre on the 23rd September.

It was a fantastic night with all our Foundation Partners and Friends which saw over 200 guests come together to celebrate their support of the Foundation and the brilliant things we have been able to achieve, and deliver due to that support.

The event, compared by the hilarious Pete Emmett was a huge success and we raised a substantial amount of money on the night, allowing us to deliver more Mental Health Counselling and Addiction support services here at the Foundation.

THE WINNERS

Congratulations to all of the winners on the night, spanning across the 7 different categories.

List of categories and winners as follows:

STANDING TALL FOUNDATION AWARD – Presented by Adam Purshall – Menzies Distribution

This award recognises the outstanding contribution this company or individual has made to the Foundation since it started in 2020.

Winner

Muse Developments

TECH/DESIGN AWARD – Presented by Communications Plus

This award is presented to the company or individual that has offered exceptional technical or design support to the Foundation, to ensure the professional and smooth running of its internal operations.

Winner

Brother UK

ARMED FORCES AWARD – Presented by Karl Davies – TIP

This award is in recognition of the fantastic support a company or individual gives to our Service personnel and veterans.

Winner

Menzies Distribution

SOCIAL IMPACT & COMMUNITY AWARD – Presented by Victoria Morrison – Hughes – Integral Legal

This award recognises the company that has contributed to the development or needs of an individual by helping them and implementing positive change in their lives and the community.

Winner

Communications Plus

LOCAL SERVICES AWARD – Presented by Max Bentham – Muse Developments

This award celebrates the services offered by local businesses in the Northwest region, and the support they have shown not only the Foundation, but the surrounding community.

Winner – Allisons Financial Planning

NEW PARTNER AWARD – Presented by Allie Baglow – Allisons Financial

This Award celebrates our newest Foundation Partners and the support they have shown us so far.

Winner

Bates Office Supplies

ANDY REID MBE SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD – Presented by Andy Reid MBE

This Award is in recognition of the support this organisation has provided to the Armed Forces Community.

Winner

Cakes 4 Casualties

But that’s not all – we’ve got more! Meet Steve Heapy, the CEO of Jet2, and former football legends Liam Dickinson and Rhodri Giggs.

And here’s the best part – your ticket includes a chance to WIN 2 x plane tickets anywhere in Europe! Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity.

We’d like to say a massive thank you to The Veterans’ Foundation and Veterans’ Lottery as we have received the amazing news that we have  been  awarded a grant!

The Grant will fund our Veterans on Probation Wellbeing Programme. This is a 6 week  programme, specifically targeted at Veterans currently engaged with the Probation Service in Warrington, Halton and Knowsley.

The programme is aimed at helping them to improve their general health and wellbeing, as well as providing tools for employment and financial planning. It will also seek to reduce social isolation, increase social contact, encourage peer engagement, and confidence building and create sustainable links between individuals and their community.

In December 2022 STF were contacted by the Head of the Probation Team in Warrington who were seeking our support to work with low to medium risk veterans on rehabilitation in the community. They told us that there is no-one who is focusing on the bespoke needs of veterans.

The STF team recently visited an Armed Forces Job Fair in Catterick and also delivered a Wellbeing Day for  soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment. We found that there is a need for the types of services we deliver and  this is a consistent message from probation services across the UK. We have designed this programme in response to this need.

We are therefore absolutely delighted to receive the financial backing to be able to fund and deliver this project. In particular, our Founder Andy Reid MBE appreciates what it means to wear a uniform and the potential adverse outcomes of transitioning to a civilian life. This ‘lived experience’ makes him uniquely qualified to understand the pressures and stresses of the people in our communities he primarily wishes to help.

Andy recently filmed a fantastic piece of video content for the Veterans’ Foundation in support of the Veterans Lottery, explaining his story. The powerful underlying message being to other veterans that he is “a survivor, not a victim”, a value that is instilled within Andy and all the work that we do here at the Foundation.

You can view the video here:

The Veterans’ Foundation Major General David Shaw describes what they do:

“The Veterans’ Foundation has been set up to help fund charities and other charitable organisations that are helping serving and former members of the Armed Forces, and their dependants, who are in need.”

“The Veterans’ Foundation raises its money through the Veterans’ Lottery and donations. Since inception in July 2016, it has given over £11 million through over 600 grants to over 300 unique organisations, many of them small to medium-sized and very worthwhile charities, which are helping members of the Armed Forces community who are in need. Forecasts indicate the Veterans’ Foundation will make grants totaling £4.4 million this financial year. The charities and other organisations we have helped include those tackling the challenges of mental and physical injuries, homelessness, unemployment, children’s loss of parents while serving and remembrance. We encourage you to spread the word.”

Our Founder Andy had this to say about the funding news:

” I am ecstatic that my Foundation has received not only funding, but also the recognition from the Veterans’ Foundation and Lottery that there is a need for our Wellbeing programme for Veterans in the probation service. Having served in the Army for a number of  years, I can fully understand the nature and complexity of the issues some of the Veterans face, and that the transition back into Civilian life can be challenging. I am extremely grateful for the support of the Veterans’ Foundation and am excited for my team to be able to deliver such a vital programme that could make a big difference.”

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!

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!