Simon Weston OBE is the new Honorary Patron of Forces Reunited

Forces Reunited is pleased to announce that we have made Simon Weston OBE our Honorary Patron and we have also made his most worthwhile charity, Weston Spirit, our adopted charity which we shall wholeheartedly support.

Simon says:  “I am honoured to be asked to be the Honorary Patron of Forces Reunited.  Naturally, I consider this site to be of vital importance to, not only helping to reunite old friends and comrades with each other, but to connecting troops with each other and their families, wherever they are, from all over the world.”

Simon continues:  “I shall be working closely with Forces Reunited in the coming years in the hope that both our aims, ideals and dreams can come closer to being fulfilled. 

“My charity, Weston Spirit, is a charity for young people that promotes the personal and social development of socially excluded and disaffected young people and was founded in 1988. Weston Spirit provides personal development programmes and employment opportunities to thousands of teenagers every year.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am proud of what I have achieved so far with Weston Spirit and ask that if each one of you could donate £1 to Weston Spirit (www.westonspirit.org.uk) then so much more could be achieved.  I would also like to again congratulate Forces Reunited for all their good work and to thank them for their generous donation to Weston Spirit.”
 

SSAFA Parachute Jump

Once again we are asking for help as our very own Business Development Manager Justin Turner will be doing a tandem parachute jump on the weekend of the 21st July in aid of SSAFA Forces Help.

SSAFA Forces Help is the leading national charity helping the serving and ex-Service members of the British Armed Forces and their families in times of need, suffering and distress. It is, I’m sure you’ll all agree, a very worthwhile cause.

We would like to raise as much sponsorship as possible, and are therefore appealing to you all for your help. Please could we ask you to sponsor Justin. It can be as little, or as much as you like, it all adds up.

He's very nervous about the jump, as it’s like nothing he's ever done, however the more money he raises, the better he'll feel about it!

To sponsor him, please send a cheque made payable to "SSAFA Forces Help", to:

Justin Turner
Forces Reunited
Unit 2, Marsh Farm,
Hilperton,
Trowbridge,
Wiltshire,
BA14 7PJ.

Please could you include your address so that we can put this onto the sponsorship form so that SSAFA can claim Gift Aid on each donation (worth an extra 28p per £1 donated!).

100% of all the sponsorship we receive will be going to SSAFA, so please be as generous as you can.

We thank you all in advance for your help, and when Justin's done the jump we’ll get some photos put up on the site to show that he's really done it!!
 

'One of a kind' is Naval Star

HMS Bristol was recently saved from the scrapheap when the Royal Navy announced it would fund its use as a training centre for the foreseeable future. The warship, a Type 82 Destroyer that played a key role in the Falklands War, is currently berthed in Portsmouth. TOM HODSON went on board to find out what life was like for sailors at war and for the trainee cadets who now use it.

Glistening in the sun as she sits in Portsmouth docks, it's hard to imagine the treacherous conditions that HMS Bristol faced in the South Atlantic 25 years ago.

Painted in the battleship grey of the British fleet, she is now surrounded by similar-looking vessels in the harbour at the naval establishment HMS Excellent, or Whale Island as it is known.

When she was commissioned in 1973, HMS Bristol was due to be the first in a fleet of Type 82 Destroyers.

But the order for the other ships was cancelled by the Government, which means that HMS Bristol is unique.

She was launched at a ceremony in Avonmouth, having been built on Tyneside by renowned shipbuilder Swan Hunter, and was the seventh naval vessel to carry the Bristol name.

These days, the destroyer has had her guns and radar removed, and has effectively been turned into a 6,000-tonne campus where cadets, new recruits and special forces officers live and train.

The ship is moored next to the Royal Navy's training base, with a set of steps leading up to the deck, from where a brass bell proudly hangs.

In the admiral's quarters, pictures of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and other city landmarks adorn the wood-panelled walls.

Elsewhere, the link with the city is less apparent, and the look more functional.

Hundreds of bunks and lockers lie below decks on spotless floors, scrubbed and maintained by the ship's 43 full-time staff.

Scores of defunct radar machines lie unused, except for training purposes, in a special "Ops Room" below deck.

You can imagine how, back in 1982 during the Falklands conflict, there would have been a hive of activity on board, with sailors looking out for Argentinian ships and aircraft.

The bridge of the ship, which has magnificent views over the Solent, has been turned into a training centre for recruits.

It is full of equipment from the 1960s and 1970s, including a radio and a giant compass.

But the most curious thing on the bridge is a switch that can be turned from "peace" to "war" - as if to prime the weapons on board to fire.

The ship was taken off war duties in 1987 and turned into a training centre at Dartmouth before being moved to its current base in Portsmouth in 1993.

Now, 14,000 Navy recruits use the ship every year, staying for up to three nights on the 480 beds on board.

For many, the ship is their first experience of the Royal Navy.

Overseas recruits use also use the ship, with cadets from Canada, Bermuda, Holland, Hong Kong, India, Malta, the Falklands, South Africa and the USA all staying there.

But the threat of the axe hung over HMS Bristol for some time, and she was only saved when the Royal Navy announced funding for the next few years.

Lieutenant-Commander John Haynes, the ship's commanding officer, said: "There was confusion about whether Bristol was going to have her stay here extended.

"The funding is in place until 2010, but we are trying to extend it until 2015 and hopefully beyond that.

"There was a debate that there were younger ships we could use.

"She is an old lady, with 1960s technology, but she is in great condition."

A campaign was set up to save HMS Bristol, although this was recently scaled down after confirmation that the ship would stay at Whale Island. While at sea, the ship had more than 400 sailors on board.

She was also laden with weapons including a torpedo firing system, Sea Dart missiles, and Ikara anti-submarine guns. But these were all stripped out once the ship was turned into a training centre for cadets.

Lieutenant-Commander Haynes said: "If someone else can use it, it gets recycled in the Navy.The Chileans bought a lot of our city-class destroyers, and a lot of our equipment was reusable, so this ship was used for parts."

Now, he says, HMS Bristol's function is as a "floating hotel".

He said: "We have more than 15,000 service personnel using the ship every year, be it medics or special forces or cadets. The reason they use this for training is that on a sea-going ship, you wouldn't have the opportunities to do it."

He added: "The important thing about HMS Bristol is that being on board prepares them for life at sea and we can put them through different scenarios. We have still got machinery here which they can lift, and medics use the ship to practice treating casualties in confined spaces."

Recently the ship hosted 100 Royal Marines for the 25th anniversary commemorations of the Falklands War.


Story Courtesy of: Bristol Evening Post.

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