News

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!

The Foundation is always ecstatic when people undertake personal challenges and choose to support us in doing so. We are therefore delighted that James Sloane  from JMW has chosen to run the Manchester Marathon on April 16th to raise funds for the Foundation. 

James works in the JMW Military Claims department as a Solicitor for servicemen and veterans who have unfortunately sustained great suffering through the line of military duty. They represent many different kinds of victims such as PTSD sufferers, deafness cases, cold injured clients, sufferers of orthopaedic injuries, as well as victims of abuse, bullying and discrimination.

James says:

I planned the marathon many months ago as it has always been a challenge I’ve wanted to conquer. I tried to do one in 2013 but pulled out due to injury and it has taken me 10 years to muster up the fitness and conviction to go for it again. I heard about Andy’s story through my Head of Department, Clare Stevens, who has known Andy for years. I was greatly inspired by his Kilimanjaro climb last year. I have always found the struggle of overcoming adversity to be greatly inspiring and nothing encompasses the glory of fighting back more than Andy and his foundation which is why I selected the foundation for the run !

We are very grateful to James for his support and wish him all the best with the run!

Please give generously and show your support on James’s Just Giving Page HERE.

This weekend saw The Foundation facilitate a pre-season bootcamp with the 2nd Battalion at the Yorkshire Regiment for the Saints Women’s team. The two day event involved many team building activities and challenges which brought the team together off the pitch, ahead of the upcoming season.

Here are some pictures from the day and social media tweets:

Our Founder Andy Reid MBE said:

“Myself and everyone at the Standing Tall Foundation are delighted to be sponsoring Jodie Cunningham again for the 2023 season. I have worked with Saints women’s team and the England women’s team over the last few year’s.

Myself and Craig was talking about team building and leadership at around the same time I was asked by the 2nd Battalion at the Yorkshire Regiment to deliver some Wellbeing and Mental health projects for the Soldiers and Officers.

Having served in the Yorkshire Regiment and being a big fan of the women’s game, it was fantastic to help organise a pre- season boot camp for Saints women, and keep building that relationship to hopefully inspire some female infantry soldiers to take up rugby league and get involved with Saints.”

Well done ladies, we wish you all the best for the upcoming season!

It’s been another exciting month here at the Foundation – and our latest announcement is just that! We are thrilled that Evolution Fitness XL have joined as our latest Foundation Partner.

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.

We were delighted to welcome them onboard, as here at the Foundation, we know the importance of  physical wellbeing, and the positive impact it can have on your mental health.

Our Founder Andy Reid MBE had this to say:

“It’s fantastic to be working with Mike and everyone at Evolution Fitness XL. Obviously physical wellbeing goes hand in hand with mental wellness and overall wellbeing, so it’s great to partner with them and receive their support for the Foundation.”

Welcome guys! We look forward to working together going forward!

If you are struggling with your mental health and wellbeing, or need some advice on how to improve your physical health, please get in touch with our Wellbeing team.

We are absolutely ecstatic to announce that The Standing Tall Foundation are now official Guinness World Record holders for the “highest altitude burger delivery on land!” 

Back in October last year, our Founder Andy Reid MBE became the first ever triple amputee in the UK to reach the summit of the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro.

As if it wasn’t enough, there was another world record also broken on that momentous day. In collaboration with our sponsor Uber Eats, Andy and the team were able to “deliver” the first ever burger and fries to the top of the mountain, 19,341 feet above sea level!

Successfully organised by Daniel Hodges, who also took part in the Kili challenge, the burger was made prior at British Burger chain Honest Burger in Manchester, and was safely vacuum packed and transported in the team’s luggage in preparation for the epic journey it was about to go on.

It took six days for the burger to travel from the foot to the top of the highest mountain in Africa. The burger travelled approximately 4,522 miles from where it was made to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro by car, plane and on foot by Andy Reid MBE and his team of climbers.

As the team battled with altitude sickness and tummy bugs, we were unsure whether it would make it to the top, but we are delighted to say it did, and it has now officially broken a world record for the highest altitude burger delivery on land!

You can see it for yourself on the official site HERE.

Matthew Price, Uber Eats UK and Ireland General Manager at Uber said: “When we heard Andy Reid and the incredible team at The Standing Tall Foundation wanted to work with us to take our deliveries to new heights and break the World Record for the highest altitude delivery on land, we jumped at the chance to be involved. We were proud to raise awareness and funds for an important charity which is dedicated to promoting the physical and mental health of communities across the UK.”

We are absolutely ecstatic to announce that we have launched our very own STANDING TALL clothing brand!

Working in collaboration with local St Helens based clothing brand Merakilo, we have designed a simple, yet powerful logo and range of clothing to match, for both men, women and children. There is a range to suit everyone.

The ethos behind the branding and the mountain, (which is Mount Kilimanjaro by the way) is to represent the epic challenge that Andy faced last year when he became the first triple amputee to reach the summit. This was Andy’s mountain, and the struggle he faced was real, but he was able to overcome the adversity he faced and climb to the top.

Most importantly, the logo symbolises that we all have our OWN Mountain to conquer – whether it be our Mental Health, Physical Health, Addiction issues, or just general life challenges – we can face them and defeat them and not let them defy us!

STAND TALL AT THE TOP OF YOUR MOUNTAIN

Our Standing Tall clothing is available to buy HERE 

Or please visit our merchandise page on the website.

All proceeds generated go towards providing our Mental Health and Addiction Support Services

We are delighted to announce our latest Foundation partner as Integral Legal Costs based in Wilmslow, Cheshire. 

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.

Integral Legal are a well rounded business, offering services in Costs Drafting, Costs Management, Training, Advocacy, Strategy, Solicitor Act Disputes, Informed Consent and Funding.

Victoria Morrison – Hughes is the Founding Director of Integral Legal.  Victoria is a qualified Costs Lawyer with a degree in accountancy and finance, coupled with extensive experience working as a lawyer in high street practice which provides Victoria with unique insight into both the operational and technical demands of a legal business.

She had this to say about the partnership:

“Having met Andy at an event in July 2022 and visiting the Standing Tall Foundation the impact on me personally and my family has been overwhelming, such that I have not been able to stop thinking of ways in which I can help the Foundation.  Becoming a partner was an immediate way to get on board but I look forward to continuing to find ways to help promote the Standing Tall Foundation and the exceptional work that Andy and his team do.”

We are really grateful for their support and are excited to be working together in the future, as we believe they will be a great asset to the Foundation!

If you are interested in becoming a partner of the Foundation, please get in touch with our Executive Officer Charlie Eke:

charlie@standingtallfoundation.org.uk