Help your Editor help our Heroes

"What is H4H all about? It's about the blokes. It's about Derri, a rugby player who has lost both his legs, it about Carl whose jaw is wired up so he has been drinking through a straw. It's about Richard who was handed a mobile phone as he lay on the stretcher so he could say goodbye to his wife. It is about Ben, its about Steven and Andy and Mark, its about them all. They are just blokes but they are our blokes; they are our heroes. We want to help our heroes." Bryn Parry, Appeal Chairman

I am Richard Randell the Editor of Defence Systems Daily. As an ex -British Army officer I am well aware of the sacrifices made on a daily basis by Coalition Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and of the terrible injuries that, all too often, are overlooked or ignored. When I heard about Help for Heroes I realised it was something I had to support. We know that, just as there is a time when we need our servicemen, so there is a time when they need us. That time is now. We want to help the men and women who have become casualties in the line of duty.

The charity Help for Heroes, set up by cartoonist Bryn Parry (also an ex Army officer) and his wife Emma, has been set up help meet an initial target of £5 million to be used to help provide urgently needed specialist therapy facilities at the UK Ministry of Defence tri-service rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in Surrey. Help for Heroes is strictly non-political, and takes no position on the rights or wrongs of British military involvement in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Fund raising for Help for Heroes has already begun and to date over £3,300,000 has been raised. One of the main fund-raising events is The Big Battlefield Bike Ride. Starting on 27 May 2008 on the D-Day beaches in Normandy it leads through the battlefields of Normandy, Picardy and the Somme before finishing in London on Sunday 1st June 2008. I have been lucky enough to win one of the 300 volunteer places on the ride. It will be a physically challenging but achievable 350 mile ride, designed to link in the public mind Britain's historic battlefields with those of today, and to raise awareness of the needs of our wounded.

Each rider will become a fundraiser. I have to raise £2000 in order to take part, so I am appealing to all our readers to sponsor me, for as much as they feel able to contribute, to help me reach that target. To donate please go to my Justgiving webpage. For UK readers, please consider Gift Aid, which adds 28p from the taxman to every £1 donated. On the website just tick the Gift Aid box.