For the latest series of his BAFTA-winning programme The Choir, musical maestro Gareth Malone embarked on his most ambitious and emotional challenge to date: teaching the wives and girlfriends of Armed Forces personnel serving in Afghanistan to sing. The three-part series, shown on BBC2 in November, saw Gareth working with the families of tri-Service personnel based at Royal Marines Base Chivenor, North Devon, from just before the troops deployed on operations to their homecoming parades several months later. Gareth described this period as ‘an emotional rollercoaster’ for the women: ‘I think a tour to Afghanistan is always difficult for military wives,’ the presenter commented during a break from filming.

Over eight months, Gareth threw himself into life on base with the fearless and funny military wives: ‘It was very interesting because we hear a lot about troops that is positive but we never hear about the women,’ explains Gareth. ‘To my mind, we only ever see military wives when something tragic happens. I wanted to show what they are doing and literally give them a voice.’

Gareth describes choral singing as harder than people think, and teaching novices as a challenge: ‘It is vocally and emotionally demanding,’ he continues. ‘And at times, it’s like doing a crossword, you have to really concentrate and use your brain.’ But, he adds, ‘There is something special about singing in harmony and being part of a pack. It gives great benefits to people.’

Gareth describes the standard among his troupe as surprisingly high, and he debunks any ideas that military discipline somehow rubs off on the wives: ‘Sometimes they were a bit shambolic and ambled in late, clutching their cappuccinos,’ he says, arching an eyebrow. ‘It is never going to be a military choir but it definitely has a flavour. Trying to teach these women and get them to work as a team like the military meant I had to break them down a bit. And at times I felt like a sergeant major whipping them into shape!’ he chuckles.

But what really won him over was their enthusiasm: ‘The biggest stress for troops while they are away is if things go wrong for their families back home,’ says Gareth. ‘So it felt like they were really supportive because it gave the women a focus. They obviously have their daily lives, kids and jobs, but this was for them. It gave them a chance to knuckle down together and that's been really positive.’

Asked how important his work has been with the Armed Forces, it’s clear that the project is close to Gareth’s heart: ‘For me, all my work has been about getting singing more broadly accepted and it felt like singing and the military were two polar opposites. As far as I was aware, there was no singing in the British military, whereas the Americans have their battle chants … We don’t do that, we’re British, good lord,’ he jests.

And asked for his impressions of Britain’s Service personnel, Gareth says: ‘They are a really inspiring bunch. I’ve learnt a lot about finding grit in tough times. They are amazing and some of their families are in the direst circumstances, really having to think about possibilities that the rest of us just don’t think about. It’s incredible and the can-do attitude of Britain’s military is just exemplary.’

Watch the video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hR6O7VxKaQ

Like on facebook here
https://www.facebook.com/MilitaryWivesChoir

Purchase the song here
Amazon: ‪http://amzn.to/MWCAmazon

iTunes: ‪http://bit.ly/MWCsingle

HMV: ‪http://bit.ly/MWChmv

Play.com: ‪http://bit.ly/MWCPlay

Universal Official Store: ‪http://bit.ly/MWCUniversal

 

 

 

 

 

The fourth edition of the Garrison Girls calendar, depicting nude Forces wives, is now on sale. The models are all married to active Service men. The beautiful images included in the calendar were shot by Nick Robertson-Brown of Frogfish Photography. Nick, a retired RAF engineer who served for 22 years, has produced a beautiful collection of underwater photographs for the 2012 calendar.

Garrison Girls is on a mission to raise £5 million to set up a retreat where treatment and support can be offered to sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their families. It will be one of the first places in the UK to do this, with a focus is on supporting military PTSD sufferers and their families – treating the family as a whole unit. The retreat will be able to offer a wide range of treatments to help them recover and overcome the trauma they have experienced. The objective is to help stop the devastation of PTSD from breaking down a family and help all the victims of PTSD.

Garrison Girls is a registered charity (Charity No. 1139264). To find out more or to order a copy of the calendar, visit www.garrisongirls.com.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In October 2010, as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the MoD announced that it would be reducing the number of military personnel by 17,000. The cuts will be made across all three Services between now and 2015. And, as hundreds of these redundancy notices were issued to Armed Forces personnel in September, Europe’s largest engineers’ organisation launched a scheme to help them gain new qualifications, access training and find alternative jobs.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) – Europe’s largest professional body of engineers with more than 150,000 members in 127 countries – launched a special package to support Service leavers in working towards professional qualifications and provide access to the latest engineering and technology jobs. Tricia Johnson, IET Armed Forces Development Manager, confirms: ‘We wanted to get involved and help those in our Armed Forces who are facing redundancy in their resettlement to civilian life and to recognise the debt society owes them. Through this special discounted membership package we will support engineers, IT professionals and technicians, and help them gain a professional qualification such as Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, Engineering Technician or ICT Technician. This will greatly assist them in finding employment as it provides external recognition of the transferable skills they have achieved.’

Also part of the special package will be access to the IET’s training courses, support from the IET’s benevolent fund (IET Connect), as well as networking, mentoring and job opportunities.
The IET has a long-standing relationship with the MoD and an agreement with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), which helps approximately 15,000 Service leavers each year to prepare for resettlement and smooth their transition from the Forces into civilian work.

To find out more, visit the IET’s website at www.theiet.org, and for more information on careers in mechanical engineering, take a look at the feature in this issue of Quest.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 You may be aware that The Officers’ Association was founded 90 years ago to support commissioned ex-serving Officers of the Armed Forces and their families by providing free employment services, advice and welfare support. The Charity is in the process of researching the needs of its clients and beneficiaries today to help ensure the right services and resources are developed to meet them in the future. I therefore encourage you to spend a few moments completing the short questionnaire at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/OAStrategicReview  which will greatly assist them in understanding the concerns of serving Officers. You will see that the questionnaire is aimed primarily at officers, but everyone’s views will be welcome.  Please feel free to forward the link on to any officers you know.  Any information you provide is completely anonymous and no-one will contact you after you have completed the questionnaire. However, if you have any questions about the survey please e-mail them to admin@oastrategicreview.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As reported in the May edition of Quest, a call for poetry linked to the military operations in Afghanistan has come from Ryan Gearing, boss of military bookseller and publisher Tommies Guides: ‘In November 2011 it will be ten years since British troops entered Afghanistan following the terror attacks in New York. I want to produce an anthology of the poetry written or suggested by the men and women of all three Services involved in securing freedom for the people of Afghanistan, or poetry that has inspired them and their families as they carry out their dangerous duties.’ 

 

Suggestions and contributions for poems to be included in the anthology should be sent, by 31 July, to: Ryan Gearing, Tommies Guides, Menin House, 13 Hunloke Avenue, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN22 8UL, or email enduringfreedom@tommiesguides. co.uk. When doing so, please include a short note explaining why you have chosen the poem and how it inspires you, or who you associate it with. The publisher welcomes any poetry (old or new) – including new work by you or your relatives over the last decade – suggestions or contributions, as long as there is a special meaning for you (although inclusion of every entry cannot be guaranteed).

 

For more information, visit www.tommiesguides.co.uk. 

 

 

 

 

 

Atri-Service purpose-built £20 million new centre for the rehabilitation of military personnel is planned for HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth. The MoD project, funded by Help for Heroes, was officially launched towards the end of May onboard HMS Bulwark, while docked in HMS Naval Base Devonport. The charity’s generous assistance allows the project to surpass the MoD requirement and deliver a completely optimised capability for the use of all Service personnel. The facility will enhance the existing extensive provision for troops with long-term and complex injuries or other conditions. 

 

Help for Heroes has committed to delivering the resources to project manage and deliver a new accommodation block and rehabilitation facilities. This optimised capability will be centred on a purpose-built 60-bed accommodation and office facility, a hydrotherapy pool and a new rehabilitation gymnasium.

 

At the launch, the Rt Hon Andrew Robathan, Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, said: ‘I am delighted to be here at the beginning of the project to expand Hasler Company with new, purpose-built facilities. Medical staff do an amazing job to ensure our personnel are fighting fit. I have no doubt those rehabilitating throughout the Royal Naval Service Recovery Pathway are in good hands and are in the best place to achieve positive outcomes. The accommodation, rehabilitation gym and hydrotherapy pool will all contribute to the recovery of all our personnel, who have shown the grit and determination to push on in the most challenging circumstances.’

The Naval Service Recovery Pathway is totally inclusive and tri-Service in approach, accepting personnel from all three Services, although currently the majority of personnel assigned are Royal Marines. It is anticipated that the expansion project will be completed in July 2012.

 

To find out more about Help for Heroes, visit www.helpforheroes.org.uk.

 

 

 

 

 

On 5 June, 264 riders set off from Portsmouth on Help for Heroes’ Big Battlefield Bike Ride – an ambitious cycle ride across France. The charity aimed to have raised £100 million by the finish and, as the race started, there was just another £500k to go! Crowds of supporters, friends and family cheered as the riders, including co-founders, Bryn Parry and Emma Parry, along with wounded veterans and Service personnel from the UK and USA, began the 350-mile cycle ride, which re-traced the route the Allied Forces took from the D-Day landings to the liberation of Paris. The riders completed their challenge in the French capital on 10 June, after the longest and hardest day of cycling, which saw the intrepid fundraisers pedal hard to their destination, to cross the finish line at the Eiffel Tower and celebrate the incredible news that the charity had indeed raised a phenomenal £100 million since its conception.

 

CEO Bryn Parry was thrilled, saying: ‘In July 2007, Emma first suggested that we “do something to help the wounded” and we planned to do a bike ride to raise £10k. A few days later, after meeting General Sir Richard Dannatt, who suggested that Headley Court needed a swimming pool, we raised our sights to £500k. In early August we went to Selly Oak hospital, met some extraordinary blokes, realised that our lives had changed for ever and raised the target to £5 million. It seemed to be an almost impossible task and was a very daunting prospect indeed.

 

‘Now, less than four years later, we are staggered, humbled and very proud indeed to be involved in a charity that has become a national phenomenon. We are delighted to announce that Help for Heroes has reached the extraordinary milestone of £100 million since we launched. We are even more delighted to be able to say that every single penny of that huge sum has already been spent, or is already allocated, to provide practical, direct support to our wounded. That £100 million has come from the people of Great Britain. Hundreds of events every week raise the money that is used to help improve the lives of our wounded. They are hugely grateful, as are we. Thank you everyone, for all you have done; it is wonderful … But don’t stop now! Our work is not done. We need millions more if we are to provide a comprehensive support system that will provide the care and opportunities that our young men and women need. They are young today, but the 22 year old who has stepped on an IED will be an old man one day. We need to ensure that he is still being supported even then. The war may end but he will not have peace.

 

‘Our men and women need the very best. Our job is not done until they get it. Onwards and upwards!’

 

To find out more about the work of this charity, or to make a donation, visit www.helpforheroes.org.uk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle of Britain hero Leslie Valentine was guest of honour at a dinner held in May as part of the Finmere Arts Festival, where he attended a private viewing of artwork created to raise money for St Michael and All Angels’ Church and Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes. Mr Valentine is a Battle of Britain veteran who was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star by the French government for dropping smoke bombs to protect Allied forces during the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. Entrusted with one of the RAF’s most critical roles on D-Day, Flight Officer Valentine and his Navigator, Pat McVeigh, took his 88 Squadron (Boston) down to between 30 and 50 feet above the D-Day beaches, laying smoke to protect the invasion fleet from enemy fire.

 

The artwork on show, created by local Buckinghamshire artists, was on sale at the festival, with all entry ticket proceeds and 20% of sales going to the chosen charities (it is estimated that the event raised more than £2,000). Finmere resident Keith Jansz, a member of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA, see www.mfpa.co.uk), who paints in oils, painted the village’s war memorial with poppy wreaths especially for the event and, together with that of other artists, his work was on show throughout the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regular Quest contributor, business coach Keith Turnbull, was one of around 36,500 runners to take part in this year’s London Marathon on Sunday 17 April. Braving unseasonably soaring temperatures to run in aid of his favourite charity Guide Dogs (www.guidedogs.org.uk), dressed in the trademark mask and cape of nobleman outlaw Zorro, Keith commented afterwards, ‘This was my fourth consecutive London Marathon, but my first in a costume and, for that reason, it turned out to be my slowest time yet by far (3 hours, 56 minutes). I was going for the “Fastest Book Character” Guinness World Record, but it was a bit of a struggle. I’ve never run in a costume before and it got to around 30 degrees inside as Zorro was not designed for running and sun! Although I broke the former world record I was going for, I have not been able to claim it as someone else finished faster than me in this year’s race. C’est la vie …

‘I always run for Guide Dogs,’ he continues, ‘and the money raised this year (around £1,900 so far) will be enough for one new puppy for its first year. To date I have raised upwards of £8,000 for the charity. If I do a fifth run, there will be no costume as it is way too hard in the heat. I did, however, love hearing the cheers for Zorro along the route, groups of friends supporting me along the way, and having a few pints afterwards!’
If you would like to make a donation in recognition of Keith’s very impressive efforts, please visit www.justgiving.com/ Kturnbull.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Two intrepid cyclists are embarking on a marathon cycle ride from London to Paris in order to raise funds for STUBS (www.stubs.org.uk), the registered charity that provides practical support for UK Armed Services personnel injured on duty, war widows and their dependants, Service veterans, and other Forces personnel, helping to get them back into social situations and build confidence through providing them with match and event tickets.

Sallie Belton and Rebecca O’Neil face the daunting task of cycling from London to Paris over the course of just three days – a grand total of 234 miles (377 km). Starting the pedals turning on 28 July 2011, the cyclists have set themselves the challenge of raising £6,000 for their chosen charity.
 

A key aspect of STUBS’ work is support for the UK’s most seriously injured Service men and women who are in-patients at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) at Headley Court, Epsom. Severely injured in-patients from the DMRC are frequent visitors to STUBS events, including Harlequins home games, where STUBS rents an executive box on the halfway line offering a great view of the action. They also attend a wide range of other sporting events and, for many, their initial outing to a STUBS event is their first time out in public since being injured.
 

To find out more, or to make a donation, visit www.thelongroadtoparis.org (click on ‘Support us’, and you will find a link to the cyclists’ Justgiving site: www.justgiving.com/the-long-road-to-Paris), or search for ‘The Long Road to Paris’ on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forces broadcaster, BFBS, launched its ‘Forces 500’ campaign earlier this year to discover exactly that: the Forces’ favourite 500 songs, creating a unique database of the best-loved tunes from British Forces and their families around the globe.

It was revealed in a previous BFBS survey that Zulu was the favourite war film of the British Forces, but what’s their favourite song? When voting closed on Friday 25 March, the Forces broadcaster had received thousands of votes. The results were then calculated and verified … and, starting on Monday 11 April, BFBS Radio counted down the ‘hot 500’, playing 100 songs a day and culminating in the number one song at around 5 pm on Friday 15 April.

The top ten Forces’ favourite songs were as follows:

‘We’ve laughed and cried our way through the compilation of this chart,’ says Ernie Rowe, head of BFBS Radio UK. ‘It’s very humbling that so many listeners have trusted us with their personal memories of the tunes. We’ll be incorporating every single one of the 500 tracks into the regular BFBS playlist for the next 12 months. Yes, even Barbie Girl by Aqua, which came in at number 41 …!’
 

View the full 500 online by clicking on the link at www.bfbs.com/forces500.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residents across the Home Counties are invited to ‘The Long Road to Paris Banquet and Ball’, to be held at Uplands House, High Wycombe, on Saturday, 14 May 2011. This will include a three-course meal with wine, a champagne reception, a charity auction and entertainment for 250 guests. The evening will commence with drinks being served on arrival from 7pm, guests to be seated by 8pm for dinner.

It is being hosted by the participants of ‘The Long Road to Paris’, a sponsored cycle event from London to Paris beginning on 28 July. The event aims to raise £6,000 for STUBS (www.stubs.org.uk), the registered charity that provides practical support for UK Armed Services personnel injured on duty, war widows and their dependants, Service veterans, and other Forces personnel, helping to get them back into social situations and build confidence through providing them with match and event tickets.

Should you require accommodation, Uplands House is offering a special room rate of £45 per single and £50 per double for guests attending ‘The Long Road to Paris Banquet and Ball’. Set amidst beautiful Chiltern countryside and landscaped gardens overlooking the Hughenden Valley, Uplands House combines a classical mansion house with purpose-built contemporary buildings. With 18 acres of grounds to explore, and 74 en suite rooms providing comfortable accommodation, with free internet access, tea and coffee facilities, and onsite parking – why not make a night of it?

Alternatively, Buckinghamshire-based chauffeur company Uphoria Cars has offered to take guests home at a competitive rate with a percentage of the takings also going to STUBS.

Tickets are priced at £60 each and are on sale now. Click here (www.secure.stubs.org.uk/shop/products/1/9/the_long_road_to_paris_ball_andamp_banquet/) to be taken to the ticket point of sale.

To find out more, or to make a donation, visit www.thelongroadtoparis.org (click on ‘Support us’, and you will find a link to the cyclists’ Justgiving site: www.justgiving.com/the-long-road-to-Paris), or search for ‘The Long Road to Paris’ on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A  call for poetry linked to the military operations in Afghanistan has come from Ryan Gearing, boss of military bookseller and publisher Tommies Guides. Explains Ryan, ‘In November 2011 it will be ten years since British troops entered Afghanistan following the terror attacks in New York. I want to produce an anthology of the poetry written or suggested by the men and women of all three Services involved in securing freedom for the people of Afghanistan, or poetry that has inspired them and their families as they carry out their dangerous duties.’

Tommies Guides intends to publish the anthology this November, to commemorate the anniversary, giving it the title Enduring Freedom, the original military name for operations in Afghanistan. For each book sold, a donation will be made to charity Combat Stress, whose workload is much greater as a result of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Suggestions and contributions for this special anthology are now being welcomed. If you, or your friends and family have been inspired by poetry as a result of your role during operations in Afghanistan, Ryan urges you to get in touch. Ever since the Great War, poetry has been synonymous with inspiring and capturing the hearts and minds of the population and Service personnel, bringing home the full spectrum of feelings – those stresses, frustrations, horrors and emotions that can only be associated with being on the front line or on the home front.

Suggestions and contributions for poems to be included in the anthology should be sent, by the end of July, to: Ryan Gearing, Tommies Guides, Menin House, 13 Hunloke Avenue, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN22 8UL, or email enduringfreedom@tommies guides.co.uk. When doing so, please include a short note explaining why you have chosen the poem and how it inspires you, or who you associate it with. The publisher welcomes any poetry (old or new) – including new work by you or your relatives over the last decade – suggestions or contributions, as long as there is a special meaning for you (although inclusion of every entry cannot be guaranteed).

For more information, visit www.tommiesguides.co.uk.