Mission Accomplished

Walk to the Wall

5th June 2011

Yesterday the BHX Combined Service Veterans walked from Birmingham Airport to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, a distance of 25 miles all in aid of HomeFront Forces.

The event was organised by Lee Bradshaw Honorary Secretary of the Association and as well as veterans also included friends and colleagues from the Airport and friends from twitter.

The walking party left the airport in high spirits at 6.45am and the weather was perfect, as it was a dry, clear day. The back up team of supporters and first-aiders followed and stopped at agreed locations to provide snacks and drinks and first aid, mainly to sore, tired, blistered feet.

At 8.45 am Lee was interviewed on BBCWM Andrew Peach Show to talk about the challenge and how the group was progressing.

Later in the day Lee received a telephone call of support along with a generous donation from local MP John Hemming. At 12.30 pm the group were able to stop at John’s bungalow and received great hospitality and some more first aid.

At this point the group had the last eight miles to conquer before they would reach Alrewas and the welcoming party of Veteran Supporters, Family and also twitter friends.

The last eight miles were harder the sun was out the feet were suffering but the group stayed focused and were gratefully of the support teams encouragement over the last few hard miles.


At just after three the BHX Veterans reached Alrewas and the welcoming party it was then time to reflect and lay wreaths of remembrance. The group fell silent and were lost in their own thoughts.

HomeFront Forces is overwhelmed by the effort of the BHX Veterans and friends in raising awareness and funding to help the site to continue to develop.

It isn't too late to donate and support by going to our Just Giving Page

and find out more about the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas

Walk the Wall

Walk the Wall
Birmingham Airport to Alrewas
June 5th 2011


On 5th June 2011, fourteen members and friends of BHX Combined Services Veterans Association will walk from Birmingham Airport to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas to raise funding for HomeFront Forces. They will cover 23 miles, many carrying a full army pack weighing 35 pounds. On their arrival children will lay a wreath at the Basra Memorial Wall.

HomeFront Forces was established in December 2009 to support the estimated 175,000 children in the UK with a parent in the armed forces.

In October 2011 Britain will have had troops in Afghanistan for ten years. A generation of children has grown up with parents on frequent operational tours. The effects of separation have been shown in recent studies to cause a range of anxiety and behavioural problems. HomeFront Forces service is being developed to enable children to be in control of communication with their deployed parent.


Lee Bradshaw Honorary Secretary of the BHX Combined Services Veterans is marching with the veterans and has given support and encouragement to HomeFront Forces since following them on Twitter.

Anna Matthews, founder of HomeFront Forces says “Lee has been an amazing supporter of HomeFront Forces and has already helped at a number of events. We are overwhelmed by the support of Lee and all the BHX Veterans. We are reliant on funding to develop the project further”


http://www.justgiving.com/HomeFrontAnna

Valentines : The Way It Was

The Way It Was
It is 1943,the middle of the Second World War. Hundreds of thousands of servicemen and women are fighting across the world from North Africa to the Far East. At home their families are in constant danger from air raids .Everyone is anxious for news of loved ones.

There are, however, serious difficulties. E-mails, texts and mobile phones are many years in the future. Hand written letters are the only means of keeping in touch and these take several weeks to arrive. They are sometimes lost if the plane carrying them is shot down. There are heartbreaking occasions when letters continue to arrive, long after the writer has been killed.

I met a girl very briefly and found that we both liked the same things. Unfortunately I was posted to North Africa before I could say I loved her.


I wrote to tell her and her reply took five weeks to reach me ! She was cautious at first, but, in the two and a half years we were apart, we exchanged 675 letters and were married three weeks after I returned, Our marriage lasted 60 years until she died in 2006.

A letter written by someone you love is so much more personal than an e-mail or text. We kept all our letters and they have now been published in a book. The actual letters are in the Imperial War Museum where anyone can see them.


Tony Ross.

Tony's book can be found at the link below:

Dear Joan Love Letters from the Second World War

Also

Tony Ross gave an interview on
BFBS TV about his book

Loveminimine

My name is Jo and my husband is currently serving in the Royal Navy. I recently started my own business called Love Mini Mine, where I makepersonalised comfort dolls. The Love Mini Mine dolls were created as a means to comfort my own children when their Dad was away andthey were designed to help them understand that Daddy loves them and is always thinking of them, even when hecan’t be with them.

Why did this all start? When my daughter was born, my husband went away for 7½ months. When he left, our daughter couldn't even roll over. When he came back, she was a walking, talking toddler! When he came home, she pointed to him and shouted out "Daddy." We couldn't believe that she recognised him! Whilst he was away, she used to give a goodnight kiss, every night, to a photo of him that was in her bedroom - it was that photo that helped her remember her Dad.

Sometime later, my husband went away again and I got to thinking of the photo my daughter used to kiss and how our kids felt when their Dad left. After a bit more of a think, the first dolls were born! My daughter and son cuddled their dolls every night to go to sleep. Happy or sad, they cuddled the doll! It was lovely to see them be able to be close to their Dad, even though he was hundreds of miles away. The dolls are a little something that helps our children get through those times when allthey wanted was a hug from their old Dad.

It’s been nearly three years since I made the first doll for my son, (it’s a bit soggy round the edges now!). I work from home, which is great so I can still fit my work around my family life. The dolls have continued to be a big hit with my kids and everyone who has one loves them!

You can visit me on my website www.loveminimine.co.uk and follow me on Twitter and Facebook page ‘Love Mini Mine.’

I hope the dolls can comfort your family, like they do mine!

Jo x

Blog from a daddy out in Afghanistan

Thankyou to Louise Fetigan for allowing us to reproduce the blog placed on the
mydaddyisasoldiertrek blog.

What's it like to be away from your family? That’s really hard to ask and put into words the answer. Even though this is something we as soldiers do and I have done many deployments including Kosovo, Iraq, Cyprus and previously Afghanistan, I am on my sixth tour now since our daughter was born, it does not get any easier I can tell you that and you don’t get used to it.

Something changes when you are away, a part of your wall disappears and you become vulnerable, you miss things that are important to your family, Christmas, birthdays, school plays and parents evenings, things people take for granted in a normal life. Life at home can’t stop and my Louise then becomes Mother, Father, friend, taxi driver! and everything else... the strain that happens when I go away can be felt on the phone and in the letters that are written which makes it even harder for me when I'm away as all you want to do is be there and make things better for them.

I'm so happy that Madison has found something to channel her energy into and I cannot express how proud I am of her, it brings a tear to my eye when I see her on the news or hear her voice on the radio.

I believe that this HELP for HEROES trek that she is going to undertake is going to be hard for Madison and her friends but if she has got the same strength that her mother has shown over the last year I know I will be seeing pictures of smiling faces on top of Snowdon very soon!!!

All the luck in the world for your trek girls' from all of us here in Afghanistan to all of you there in England.

The proud father of a very special girl xx

The Big Society of Twitter

We are indebted to Madkentdragon for her contribution to our blog. She is one of our staunch supporters and her blog is well worth visiting. Madkentdragon, is part of our Big Society, she worked for the Royal British Legion for 20 years before retiring and still helps out on a temporary basis when there is a problem or lack of staff.

Here's her blog

What is Twitter? It is defined as a “micro-blogging site” where a Tweeter can use 140 characters to describe what they are doing. But to many of us, it is so much more!

When I was first introduced to it by Nicola (@NicolaRBLClubs, I looked at her page and thought “Is this for me? Can I understand the abbreviations and the protocol and most of all – what do I say?”

At the time, although I found plenty to say, I had to minimise my opinions and use it mainly for the Charity I worked for and also found it useful to pass on information on what the Royal British Legion was doing in my County.

However, since I retired I have opened up a whole new world of news, funnies, and other Charities. I have read more about what is happening in the world, so much more than I could see on the news on TV and read in the papers and often within a few minutes of it happening – it is so interesting!

I have also discovered so many charities and fundraisers, all promoting a charity or an activity to raise money for the charities, I have also found out more about the charity I worked for – more than I knew than when I worked for it! The world is my oyster!

I’m a pensioner and cannot afford to donate to every charity – but I can help promote them just by re-tweeting them so that my followers can read about them. Because of my family’s military associations, I do tend to support the military charities more than the others and of course the Royal British Legion is my primary charity. However the military personnel leave behind families who are left to cope with raising a family, paying the bills and keeping it all together – these people are “serving” just as much as the spouse who is “over there”.

One of the Charities I have become involved with does just that – The Home Front Forces Org., which is there to support the parent and children who are missing the other part of their family and need a little help; but without Twitter I would never have known them.

Finally, and most importantly I have found friends! OK they aren’t the ones you sit round the table and have a coffee with, but they are the ones you can make a coffee and chat to on Twitter. I am sometimes house-bound, I have COPD, and to chat to someone on Twitter – may be more than one at a time means that you are not alone; you have friends who will support you, advise you, tease you and make you feel worthwhile; not a housebound person with health problems staring at the walls!

Recently, I had family problems and a nasty flare up of my condition and the caring comments and inquiries and support I received was fantastic! I even had an offer from a Tweeter to visit my son in hospital in Wales because I was unable to travel to see him!

So, you Mums and Dads who are coping whilst your other half is “over there”, come and join us, you’ll find plenty of like minded people on here – and even special offers at times! And by the way, I’m @madkentdragon – I’ll introduce you – so come and find me!!

Emotional lifelines: channels of communication for military families

We are indebted to

Clare Gibson, of The Army Children Archive (TACA), http://www.archhistory.co.uk
for her permission to publish a copy of this article which can be found on the TACA drum blog

The military lifestyle is not usually compatible with a settled family life. Not only are they often on the move as family units, but forces families are frequently divided. This may happen during times of conflict, when military personnel are sent on active service to combat zones, leaving civilian family members behind, and during peacetime, when they go on exercise, for example, sometimes for prolonged periods. And many children of mobile military families must regularly exchange their homes for boarding schools during term time. During such periods of separation, it is vital for families to keep the channels of communication open, with the ways in which they have historically done so* reflecting changing technology.



Until relatively recently, the most common way for separated forces families to communicate with one another was by post, usually through the British Forces Post Office (BFPO); more information about the BFPO, as well as about BAOR postcodes and BFPO numbers, is given on TACA’s ‘Memories & miscellanea’ page. (And an item added to TACA in December 2010, ‘BACKGROUND INFORMATION: A SINGULAR AND MOST UNUSUAL SUB-POST OFFICE', looks at the sub-post office that once existed at the Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Dover, Kent.) Regular telephone contact has also become increasingly possible following the advent of mobile phones, but maintaining this is more difficult when a family member is on active service – often for security reasons – which is when free ‘blueys’ (aerogrammes) and e-blueys (electronic blueys) may come into their own (for further details, see the BFPO website: http://www.bfpo.mod.uk/).



When it comes to modern media, today’s generation of forces families is increasingly turning to the internet with which to keep in touch using e-mail, instant-messaging and social-networking services (Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Twitter, for instance), as well as e-blueys. Envisaged as functioning along similar lines as other social-networking websites, but created with the families of the British armed forces specifically in mind, those behind the HomeFront Forces website hope, funds permitting, to provide an age-appropriate – that is, for younger children – and secure link between separated forces families (visit the website to read more about its aims: http://www.homefrontforces.org/).



Chronicling as it does the history of British army children – and increasingly also of navy and RAF children – TACA tracks developments and initiatives that affect and support forces children. The rapid rise of the internet, mobile phones and social-networking sites clearly transformed the way in which military children communicated with their absent parents during the first decade of the twenty-first century. But will these communications media soon become outdated in their turn? And, if so, what will replace them?






*As well as being a fascinating read, Judith Millidge’s book, Letters from the Front (Brassey’s (UK) Ltd, London, 2002), provides a comprehensive historical overview of the logistics of communication between the battle front and the home front.

Madison on British Forces Television

Today our Patron Madison spoke on British Forces Television about her role in HomeFront Forces you can watch the piece here

Madison on BFTV
http://www.bfbs.com/news/top-story/forces-website-connects-families-across-world-christmas-42661.html

A Tough Christmas for Military Families

Christmas - minus a jigsaw piece

Your loved one is away in a war zone.... be it husband, partner, daddy, mummy, brother, sister...it is a hard time at best but add into the mix Christmas festivities and this can transpire as the hardest Christmas you'll ever have.

Christmas spans over weeks, it is a long drawn out process of parties, school fayres, get togethers, giving and sharing, laughter and smiles...with a loved one away, in our case Tony, it can be like swimming against the current at times. Flying solo at the work Christmas function was tough, not having presents to wrap and put under the tree is strange, for him not to be at Madison’s nativity and Carol service breaks my heart a little and it can evoke feelings of utter resentment to those that do have their family unit together, for them this is a normal Christmas just like any other.

Lack of contact can compound these feelings and emotions of feeling alone at this time of year, walking into a shop playing 'Lonely this Christmas' by Elvis and I am out that door quicker than I walked in!! recently we had a spell of 9 days with no contact/communication at all which the week before Christmas was really tough...but then we had a call and spirits were lifted and Christmas becomes achievable and normality of mood returns.

Madison is 7...Christmas is exciting with or without daddy, obviously she misses him but we have been here before, Christmas will come and go and we come out the other side...When asked how she feels at this time of year Madison said ' It feels really sad and worrying everyday when Daddy is away, but I have written my letter to Santa and the tree is up, I have drawn a picture for my daddy and HomeFront Forces are putting it on the site for him to see. Hopefully my daddy will call on Christmas Day and I will be with my Mummy'

In terms of how to get through this time as unscathed as possible...take loads of pictures, smile as much as you can (they will be out there wearing their Santa hats and having Christmas lunch) and enjoy friends, family and a couple of days relaxing. Its not easy but draw positives that everyday they are away is a day closer to your jigsaw being complete once again.

HomeFront Forces Art Gallery
If you are missing a special person this
Christmas because they are away on deployment
send them a Christmas picture.

launches on Wednesday 22nd December till
Saturday 1st January.

What you need to do

1) draw a picture with a message for your special
person

2) scan and send the image to info@homefrontforces.org

3)then Max and Rhys the special team at http://www.plugandplaysouth.co.uk
will add your picture to the Art Gallery on the kids page

Madison and her Patron's Certificate

It was great to spend time with Madison and
present her with a Patron Certificate.

We also filmed for ITV Meridian watch this space for when it will screen.

Louise and Madison Fetigan talk to BFBS Radio

Louise Fetigan and her 7 yr old daughter Madison talk to BFBS Radio about Homefront Forces.

http://www.esnips.com/r/hmfl/doc/8c8961ef-2ac5-4dae-a3a2-72f91469eb81/50-7-YEAR-OLD-PATRON-OF-HOME-FRONT-FORCES-EXP-311210

Christmas Gallery for Forces Children

Today, HomeFront Forces a website established to support the estimated 175,000 children in the UK with a parent in the Armed Forces, announced that during Christmas they would be hosting a Gallery where Forces Children could post pictures to a loved one.

Patron, Madison Fetigan aged 7 said,

"I think it will be great to draw a Christmas picture to parents in Afghanistan and make it a special Christmas for them too and make you and your parent happy at Christmas. Love HomeFront Forces Patron (MF)"

Anna Matthews one of the founders said ' We were overwhelmed when Plug and Play, a Southampton based Creative Web Design company came forward and volunteered to create the Gallery and upload it for free over the Christmas period. This will be a great way of demonstrating and raising awareness of the need for our website and service. It is sad that the site at the moment is not fully commissioned due to lack of funding, and an offer likes this that gives a hint of the usability of the site long term is very exciting.

Director of Plug & Play; Rhys Little says:

We recognised Homefrontforces.org as being a worthwhile and crucial organisation. We all know someone who has been touched by conflict in some way and having met the founders, we saw an opportunity to really delivery a unique platform that isn’t available today.

Social media applications, although useful in the public domain, fail to deliver the security, usability and accessibility required for service men and women and their families, due to the sensitive and confidential nature of serving in the armed forces

Currently, forces families have to depend on infrequent, erratic and brief telephone calls, as the main way they can communicate. This means children often miss out on speaking to absent parents and can't share with them the day to day ups and downs of family and school life. Homefrontforces.org will provide a child friendly, secure web portal, where families can create their own private web pages and can post pictures, video messages and all the little domestic details that help keep families in touch. The 'Your Family Page' will act like a virtual 'fridge door' of day to day messages that can literally be posted while tea is cooking.

Lorraine Bilton, Founder of Homefrontforces.org said

"As the wife of a Naval Petty Officer and mother of two I have spent many long and lonely months separated from my husband. Separation is a fact of life for service families and goes with the terrain but we can now improve how families keep in touch. Our website will enable service families to keep in contact in a more personal manner than the occasional phone call. Too often my husband has called and missed the kids as they were out playing with friends. Our site will allow him to post messages whenever he has a free moment and regardless of the time zone he is operating in. The kids will also be able to post pictures and messages at a time that suits them.
Contacts for the site are as follows

Anna Matthews 02380 238289
anna@homefrontforces.org
twitter @HomeFrontAnna

Lorraine Bilton 07889078570
lorraine@homfrontforces.org
twitter @HomeFrontLor

Homefront Forces Appoints Young Patron

HomeFront Forces Appoint Patron aged 7

Today, HomeFront Forces, a website to support the estimated 175,000 children of our Armed Forces, appointed a new patron; Miss Madison Fetigan age 7.

HomeFront Forces announced today the appointment of Miss Madison Fetigan aged 7. Anna Matthews, Director of HomeFront Forces said this was "in recognition of her positive outlook. We are delighted that Madison has agreed to become a Patron for us, because the website is all about supporting children like her during separation from a parent due to deployment"

When the founders of HomeFront Forces made contact with Louise Fetigan, Madison’s Mum, through Twitter, they loved the way that Louise and Madison decided to channel their energy during a difficult period into positive action. They got in touch with us to see how the site could help and began to plan a 'My daddy is a soldier Trek 2011' in March to raise money for Help4Heroes. Madison and her family truly represent the children and families that our website has been established to support. Madison’s daddy is going to be away for Christmas this year after leaving for a tour of Afghanistan on the 18th October and is due to return end April/May 2011.

Madison Casey Louise Fetigan (7) born in Germany 25th June 2003 has expressed how she feels about her Dad being away:"I feel sad, worried, scared and frightened because my Dad is in Afghanistan. My Mum has helped me a lot since he has been away but my Dad is always in my heart. My Daddy is a hero."

Louise Fetigan, 28, an-ex soldier herself, saw service in Kosovo and is the partner of Lance Corporal of Horse Tony Fetigan (29) who serves with the Household Cavalry. She said, "We have come through various challenges so far on this tour of duty. We wanted to focus on something positive. Madison is doing a 'My daddy is a soldier Trek 2011’ on the weekend of 13th March 2011 in aid of Help4Heroes along with 3 other girls she knows and they too have daddy's who have served in Afghanistan"

Currently, forces families depend on infrequent, erratic and brief telephone calls as the main way they communicate. Children often miss out on speaking to their parents and can't share with them the day to day ups and downs of family and school life.　 http://www.homefrontforces.org/ provides a child friendly, secure web portal, where families can create their own private web pages and can post pictures, video messages and all the little domestic details that help keep families in touch.　The family's page acts like a virtual 'fridge door' for messages that can literally be posted while tea is cooking.

The site also allows families to seek support and advice from each other. HomeFront Forces have major development plans for the site and are seeking financial support to achieve this. The HomeFront Star Supporters campaign http://www.homefrontforces.org/support/ is the best way for businesses and individuals to give their support.

Louise Fetigan said "Madison and I are delighted to be involved in the Homefront forces website and are keen to raise awareness of what will be a fantastic support system for service families when the site is fully commissioned. When Madison was feeling very sad about her Dad being away I searched for user friendly tools to help her. I found very little that was useful until I came across Homefront forces. The site they are developing is brilliant. It will be great to be able to post messages from the family, show pictures of Madison at Christmas or playing with her friends."

Monique Bateman, Director Royal Navy & Royal Marines Children’s Fund said "It's a brilliant idea. Anything that helps service children get through the difficult time of separation is fantastic. This site will provide a great coping mechanism for them and their families."

Louise and Madison Fetigan are available for interview and photos.

For further information please contactAnna Matthews, Homefrontforces.org
on 023 80238289
or Anna@homefrontforces.org

Daily Mail article explains the importance of a chat with dad.

The following piece today in the Daily Mail explains the importance to teenage happiness is a chat with dad.



Link to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1287543/Chatting-Dad-key-happiness-Half-teens-surveyed-hardly-speak-fathers-important-issues.html

The Southampton Daily Echo article

Dorset Echo launch

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/8100377.Crossways_mum_launches_Homefront_Forces_website/