1. THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION - Welcome the audience to the presentation; explain who you are and why you are speaking to them today. Keep the tone light and appropriate for your audience, and avoid overuse of jargon and acronyms. 2. We support the whole Armed Forces The Legion helps serving members of the Army, , Royal Marines and the Royal Air community Force, Reservists and veterans, as well as their families, all year round. In addition to direct help, we campaign to improve their lives, remember the fallen and organise the annual Poppy Appeal. 3. What’s its purpose? Anyone over the age of 17 can join who is willing to acknowledge the purpose of the charity; you UK’s leading Services charity do not need to have been a member of the Armed Services, or indeed have any connection to a Help veterans, and their families to past or present service personnel. The Legion welcomes members from any background and is live on to a more hopeful future an inclusive organisation. We also welcome volunteers who want to work with us, but do not Who can join? wish to become members. Anyone over the age of 17 The Legion helps: bereaved families to Live On; wounded Service men and women to Live On; younger veterans seeking employment and housing to Live On; older veterans needing age- related care to Live On 4. How do we help? The Legion’s work falls into 4 main ‘pillars’: Welfare; Comradeship; Representation; Direct Support Remembrance. Comradeship and Representation We provide life-long help and support for the whole Armed Forces community - British Armed Remembrance Forces, veterans, and their families to live on to a more hopeful future. The money raised through a donation to the Poppy Appeal goes directly to The Royal British Legion’s welfare work; providing through life care to a beneficiary who is currently serving in the , who has previously served, and their families. We work with politicians to improve the lives of that community and we have been involved in many campaigns on a range of issues the affect them. We are one of the UK’s largest membership organisations with over 320,000 members. We’re also the nation’s custodian of Remembrance and will be involved with many events during the First World War commemorations. 5. How to contact us There are now three ways to get in contact with us. Our website – www.britishlegion.org.uk - Phone 0808 802 8080 has thousands of pages of information. The County website is at - Face to face at Pop In centres http://counties.britishlegion.org.uk/counties/gloucestershire Online Our dedicated call centre – 0808 802 8080 is open 7 days a week, from 8am to 8pm for all www.britishlegion.org.uk enquiries about the Legion. We are also opening 16 Area Offices in town and city centres across the country by the end of 2014. There are pop-in centres in Gloucester, Coleford and Tewkesbury. Regardless of how people get in touch with us they will always receive consistent information as all of these methods have the same resources. 6. Direct Support We spend £10,000 every hour of every day in support of those who need us; this is equivalent to £10,000 spent every hour supporting £240,000 per day or £1.6 million per week. These next few slides will give you a snapshot of how people this money helps. We have helped people access £49 million in benefits, war pensions and Housing and financial assistance Armed Forces Compensation. We provide housing and financial assistance to those most in Benefits, war pensions and Armed need, keeping them off the streets and helping them cope with debt problems. Forces compensation 7. Direct Support We’ve arranged seaside holidays for thousands of Armed Forces families and adventure breaks Adventure and family breaks for Service children. We also organise weeks away for older veterans when they’ve needed a Seaside holidays break. We have 6 care homes in England and Northern Ireland that are exclusive to the ex- Dementia care Service community, giving them a unique camaraderie. Our nearest is in Weston-super-Mare 4 of our Care Homes have dementia care units and we also run the Admiral Nurse service in conjunction with Dementia UK in the West Midlands and Lancashire which gives help and practical advice to families and carers of people with dementia. 8. Direct Support The Legion has an ongoing commitment to the Defence Recovery Capability and these projects The Battle Back Centre (Lilleshall) are just two of the ways we fulfil it. The Battle Back Centre in Lilleshall, Shropshire, provides Blast Injury Centre at Imperial College adaptive sports and adventurous training activities for wounded, injured and sick Service personnel. The Centre is focussed on rebuilding confidence, ability and self-motivation to enable Legion care homes Service men and women either return to duty or learn new skills to aid their transition to civilian life. The Royal British Legion Blast Injury Studies Centre at imperial College was officially open by Prince Harry in October 2013. It is a joint project between the Legion and the College to carry out research into the effects of blast injuries caused by roadside bombs and other IEDs. The Centre aims to develop ways of reducing blast injuries as well as develop improved treatments for those that have suffered them. We have 6 care homes in England and Northern Ireland that are exclusive to the ex-Service community, giving them a unique camaraderie. 9. Who we’ve helped – Felix Agbotsu This is Felix Agbotsu. He’s a former Royal Artillery Gunner and he was en-route to take part in a charity event in 2004 when he was involved in a car crash that fractured his spine and left him paralysed from the neck down. As part of his recovery Felix spent 18-months as an in-patient at one of our care homes, Lister House. Since Felix left Lister House, we have funded adaptations to his mobility vehicle, without which Felix would have been housebound. We have also helped him with specialist mobility equipment, including a bed hoist. 10. Campaigning The Legion holds regular awareness-raising events in Parliament that give beneficiaries the Parliamentary receptions chance to speak to their local representatives about their experiences post-Service and the 2015 General Election Manifesto support they have received from us. Our 2015 General Election Manifesto is aimed at politicians Hearing Loss survey and prospective candidates and outlines the key actions we would like the next Government to take to improve the welfare of serving personnel and the families. Half the policies in this document have already been accepted by the Government. Lost Voices, the report we published on hearing loss among serving and ex-Service personnel has had an impact on Government policy already and £10 million has been set aside to help veterans with hearing problems. 11. Campaigning The Legion is a strong campaigning voice for the whole Armed Forces family, working tirelessly Community Covenant success to lobby politicians and other policymakers to ensure those who are serving or have served, and their families receive the best possible care from the government. The Military Covenant, the nation’s pledge to uphold a duty of care to the Armed Forces community, was enshrined in law in 2011. Since then we have been working hard to get local authorities to sign up to Community Covenants, a pledge to enact the Military Covenant at a local level. By the end of 201 every local authority in England, Wales and had signed a Community Covenant. 12. Comradeship The Legion has over 320,000 members and 2,500 branches many of whom help organise the 280,000 members Poppy Appeal every year, as well as bringing the good work of the Legion to their local 2,500 branches community. Our social media presence is growing all the time, our Facebook page, Maximum Respect for the British Armed Forces, has over 2 million fans and our Twitter account Over 2 million Facebook fans @PoppyLegion has over 120,000 followers Over 120,000 follow @PoppyLegion on Twitter 13. Comradeship We’ve introduced two new types of membership recently. All currently Serving personnel can Free membership for Serving get free membership to the Legion. All they need to do fill in the form on our website. We also personnel. 1 year’s free membership offer a year’s free membership to everyone who has recently left the Armed Forces. Again, they for Service leavers just need to fill in their details online and 12 months’ free membership will begin on their first day on civvy street. 14. Representation Last year The Royal British Legion answered more than 200,000 calls for help from the Armed Forces community. 15. Remembrance As the nation’s custodian of Remembrance the Legion is responsible for national observances National Memorial Arboretum such as the Festival of Remembrance, held every year at The , and the veterans’ Silence in the Square march past at the Cenotaph on . The National Memorial Arboretum in Festival of Remembrance and Staffordshire is part of the Legion’s family of charities and each year around 300,000 people visit Remembrance Sunday this site of reflection and Remembrance. It is home to the Armed Forces Memorial, a stunning tribute to every Service man and woman killed on duty since the end of the Second World War. We also hold Silence in the Square in on Armistice Day. Thousands of people attend the moving programme of music and poetry before Central London comes to a standstill at 11am for the two minute silence. 16. Why does The Legion do its work? The Royal British Legion created the Poppy Appeal to help those returning from the First World County ANZAC Parade Leighterton War. A century on from the start of that conflict, we are still helping today’s Armed Forces Remembrance Services in Towns and families throughout the year in much the same way, whether coping with bereavement, living Villages with disability, or finding employment. As Custodian of Remembrance we ensure the memories To the memory of the fallen and the of those who have fought and sacrificed in the British Armed Forces live on through the future of the living generations. We hold Remembrance services all over the county and all are welcome to attend. 17. First World War commemorations The Legion will be joining the nation in respecting the sacrifices of the First World War. We are The Legion will be involved in many also developing a meaningful and appropriate range of Centenary events, partnerships and events during the Centenary projects. These include the Centenary Poppy Campaign which aims to get the whole country commemorations awash with red poppies, Lights Out which will mark the moment Britain declared war on For full details visit Germany and Every Man Remembered; a website where you can commemorate one of the www.britishlegion.org.uk/ww1 Service men or women killed during, or as a result of the First World War. 18. Fundraising To support our tasks: Fundraise throughout the year including the Poppy Appeal . £10,000 is London Marathon spent every hour of every day in support of those who need the Legion; this is equivalent to Pedal to Paris £240,000 per day or £1.6 million per week. Thousands of people across the country raise millions Challenge Events of pounds for us each year taking part in sporting events such as the London Marathon, our London to Paris bike ride Pedal to Paris or extreme challenges such as the Exmoor 30:30 or Freedom Trail. Many more help secure the future for Service people and veterans alike by leaving us a legacy, or gift, in their will. 19. Fundraising There are all sorts of events that are put on throughout the county from small branch events to county campaigns. 20. Poppy Appeal 2014 21. Who we’ve helped – Pete Dunning Pete Dunning served with the Royal Marine Commandos. In May 2008, at the age of 22, he was hit by an IED explosion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, and lost both his legs. We helped Pete during his rehabilitation, installing a wet room and making adaptions to his home to make day-to-day life easier. Pete is a proud supporter of the Legion as a volunteer for the Poppy Appeal and has collected thousands of pounds across his hometown. 22. How do we do it? We couldn’t carry out all the good work that we do without the help of people like you. Whether With your help! it’s collecting on the streets during Poppy Appeal, or volunteering as a caseworker, you can make a real difference to the lives of thousands of members of the Armed Forces family. How can you be involved? If you would like to hear about upcoming events, or are interested in becoming a member or volunteer. leave your details on one of the contact cards and we will get back to you. For more information visit our website – www.britishlegion.org.uk 23. THANK YOU Thank you for your time. Do you have any questions?