London Venue Possibilities

GQ April 09

Posted by: Michelle Nielsen

Nottingham Stop The War Coalition

I came across a group of protesters outside University who are against the Afghanistan war. I thought their view on the war was interesting as their aim is to stop the war completely. I spoke to them about Help for Heroes and their views on the charity, and they claim that they are against them due to the fact that 'Help for Heroes is in effect supporting the war as they are helping the soldiers rather than getting them out.'

Posted By: Lottie

The England boys support Help for Heroes

Great in defence, midfield generals, sharp shooters ... and we're not just talking about England

By DAVE MASTERS

Published: 15 Oct 2009

ENGLAND'S soccer aces paid tribute to the nation's real stars at Wembley last night - by wearing The Sun's Help For Heroes wristbands.

Salute ... Terry hails troops

The whole squad put them on before the Belarus game after we delivered a batch to lion-hearted skipper John Terry at the team hotel.

And after the match - which England won 3-0 - Terry led the squad in a special "thank you" applause to brave squaddies sitting in the stands, even stopping toSALUTE them.

The 77,000 crowd joined in, many waving scarves when footage of the celebrating troops was beamed on the stadium's big screens as they were hailed over the PA system.

Honour

Terry, 28, said later: "It was an absolute honour to lead the tribute and see all of the lads wearing wristbands.

Applause ... Ferdinand

"Our Boys and Girls do an amazing job around the world and we should never forget that.

"That's why the lads made a special effort to single them out for a special England thank you - it's the least they deserve."

About 120 troops - all in uniform - were invited to the game as VIP guests of the Football Association. They had recently returned from overseas.

Among them were 20 officers from 19 Light Brigade Combat Service Support Battalion, who arrived back home from Afghanistan on Saturday.

The rest were from the 33 General Support Squadron, The Royal Logistic Corps of the British Army, who have been stationed in Iraq and Kuwait.

Proud ... two-goal Crouch

Their CO, Major Rachel Parr, said: "We've worked extremely hard in very tough conditions so we're tremendously grateful to The FA and the England team."

Chelsea star John is a big supporter of The Sun-backed Help For Heroes initiative, which has raised £30million for injured troops since 2007. More than 1.4million people have paid to wear coloured wristbands to help raise awareness of the charity.

England's squad put them on before the final World Cup qualifier after we took them to Terry at the team's hotel in Watford, Herts. Last night's team, which included Terry, two-goal Peter Crouch and Rio Ferdinand, wore them on to the pitch but had to take them off before kick-off because of strict FIFA rules.

Before the match, busy Terry also signed a photo for each of the troops. They were presented at half-time, with the The Sun's help.

Terry added: "I can't imagine the experiences that squaddies must go through on the frontline, or what it must be like to lose one of your colleagues in battle and come home without them.

"I've always said these servicemen and women make me feel proud to be English. Tonight was no different."

YOU can help support our wounded troops by visiting the helpforheroes website.

The Sun newspaper, Thursday 15th October

Posted by: Grace

FIFA 2010 World cup

The FIFA 2010 World Cup begins in June 2010, therefore would be an opportunity not to be missed for our event! We could make the event a 'World Cup pre-party' open to footballers and football fans alike.

As the World Cup only occurs once every 4 years I think it is something that we really need to pick up on and think about when planning our event.

As the majority of soldiers are men (and the first word we think when we think of men is football!) I think that the 2 avenues, Help for Heroes and the World Cup could work extremely well together!

Posted by: Grace

Simon Weston

Simon Weston could be a good person to approach regarding a speaker for the event. I have visited his website, here is a statement from him:

In 1982 I was aboard the Sir Galahad when it was destroyed in Bluff Cove on the Falklands Islands. I suffered 46% burns to my body and went on to have numerous operations. However, I was one of the lucky ones. I survived.
Since then it has been my privilge to have been invited to speak at events across the UK and abroad. I have met some wonderful people and had the opporunity to have been involved in many worthwhile charities.

I thank you for taking the time to visit my website and look forward to hearing from you.

Best Wishes

Simon

http://www.simonweston.com/

Posted By: Lottie

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards

Carol Vorderman prsents the annual awards ceremony from London's
Grosvenor House that honours the nation's unsung heroes. tributes are led by Gordon Brown and Prince Charles.

Just some of the Celebrities' involved and attending the event:

Louis Walsh
Myleene Klass
Diversity
JLS
Nicola Roberts (Girls Aloud)
Peter Andre
Louise Redknapp
Ozzy Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne
Naomi Campbell
Gordon Ramsay
Alexandra Burke
Rachel Stevens
Joanna Lumley
Vernan Kay
Tess Daly
Cheryl Cole
Gordon Brown
Sarah Brown
Piers Morgan
Simon Cowell
Sir Michael Caine
Emma Button
Dannii Minogue
Kimberley Walsh
Paul O'Grady
Gary Barlow
Davina McCall
Lisa Snowden
Melanie Brown
Arlene Philips
Ray Winstone
Ronan Keaton
Andrew Flintoff
Holly Willoughby
James Gordon
George Lamb
Dame Vera Lynn
Catherine Jenkins

Key Quotes from the Evening:

Diversity: "British and Proud"
"Sometimes ordinary people are called upon to do extraordinary things"

Carol Vorderman: "The rising death toll has left many families devastated. But alongside the tragic report of loss and sacrifice, there also stories of astonishing Bravery."

Sergeant Noel Connolly: "I've been very lucky to have worked with some awesome blokes including the whole three commander brigade. All of these blokes should be stood up here, its a collective effort and still is. People have to remember as we speak people are putting themselves in danger on a daily basis and we should never forget that."

Andrew Flintoff: "You lose a lot of perspective of things especially when you play cricket and you get injured. But from a personal point of view, its insignificant. What these lads are doing out here is something I'll never have to experience. The ability to save someone's life is an unbelievable thing."

Posted by: Michelle

Current charity campaigns

Campaigns

Jeans for Genes
Jeans for Genes is the national children's charity that holds Jeans for Genes Day. Wear your jeans, make a donation and help children with genetic disorders.

Coppafeel
‘Coppafeel’ is a campaign which was started by breast cancer sufferer Kristin Hallenga. Thre campaign aims to encourage women to ‘cappafeel’ and check their breasts for cancerous lumps. She was recently awarded a Pride of Britain award for her amazing efforts.

Pants to poverty
We want our pants to be completely transparent! We believe everyone involved in making our pants is part of our gorgeous pants loving community… just the same way as the shops are! So, here we’re delighted to introduce you to the wonderful people who make our pants.. without their amazing work, we wouldn’t be able to proudly claim that our pants truly ethical from grain to groin!!
This charity does exactly as it says on the tin – says pants to poverty!! They make fully ethical, fair trade pants to help those that are underpaid and over worked in poor countries.

Moonwalking
Walk the Walk came into being 12 years ago when just 13 women Power Walked the New York City Marathon in their bras to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. What started out as a one-off fundraising event, has blossomed into a thriving multi-million pound charity, raising to date in excess of £48 million for vital breast cancer causes.

Heels that heal
Welcome to Heels That Heal. It's a sexy and fun collaboration between glossy women's magazine Fabulous and health charity Wellbeing of Women. Our goal is to raise £500,000 to help fund lifesaving research into women's reproductive and gynae health issues.
Don't worry, we won't be asking you to break a sweat, buy a plastic bracelet or bake a mountain of cup cakes. Instead our campaign is revolving around the things you love most – your heels. We're asking you to buy them - see our incredible eBay auction where you can bid for the shoes of celebrities like Kylie Minogue and Cheryl Cole and walk in them to help save lives. We've also got 28 amazing celebrity experiences for you to bid for - fancy lunch with Peter Andre, or a one-on-one cookery lesson with Aldo Zilli? Thought you might!

Posted by: Grace

Phil Packer

As just seen on the Pride of Britain awards, Phil Packer is amazing, an inspiration to anyone!
He has raised £1.2 million so far!

It would be amazing if he would consider attending our event to Help our Heroes!

Visit his site to both find out more and contact him

http://www.philpacker.com/contact.php

Posted by: Grace

Minus one - the downstairs club in escucha!

Posted by: Grace

PERFECT venue!

Escucha in Nottingham could be the perfect venue for our event! It has 2 bars, a club downstairs and is big enough to hold all of our guests and a separate room for the fashion show with seats.
It is available to hire Sunday - Thursday
• We can cater for parties of 50 - 350
• 2 bars, comfy low level seating

• Bespoke sound system and we can supply quality DJs and live acts to your requirements

• 2 Plasma screens and a 6 foot projector screen
• We can offer buffet and canapé menus that can be custom designed to your requirements

Make sure you check out the website at http://www.escucha.co.uk/

Posted by: Grace

Twitter!

Help for heroes event is now on twitter! Keep updating girls so we can get lots of followers, and hopefully sponsors and people who want to get involved! Our username is helpheroesevent if you want to get following!

Posted by: Grace

Heaps for heroes!

HELP for Heroes heaped thanks on big-hearted Brits last night for donating £30MILLION in just two years.

The charity founded to aid wounded troops passed the landmark amount as it celebrated its second anniversary today - despite the bitter economic recession.

Campaigners for The Sun-backed cause described it as "the best birthday present ever" for Our Boys.

The amazing total has broken all records for fund-raising by a start-up charity.

Patron ... Jeremy Clarkson

Help for Heroes chief executive Bryn Parry said: "When we started we had no idea just how much generosity and support we would encounter.

"The money is helping extraordinary young men and women wounded in the service of our country. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped - and please keep it coming."

The charity was started by ex-Army officer Bryn and wife Emma on October 1, 2007.

It won the immediate backing of the Forces' favourite paper, thanks to our columnist and TV star Jeremy Clarkson becoming a founding patron.

Supportive ... Prince William meets injured Marine Mark Ormrod

The charity now has 136 county coordinators from Inverness to the Channel Islands.

In its first two years more than 10,500 fundraising EVENTS have taken place.

More than 1.4 million people have paid to wear Help for Heroes tri-coloured WRISTBANDS.

Advertisement

An average of £40,000 has come in every day - and £23.5million has already been spent onPROJECTS.

The charity received a major boost from The Sun with the launch last March of our nationwide advertising campaign entitled What Will You Do?

And it is now more than halfway towards its target of building a network of recovery and rehabilitation centres.

The first of up to seven centres, named Mark Wright House after a fallen Para hero, opened in Edinburgh in August.

Meanwhile fund-raising efforts are still in full swing.

One major drive is a National Golf Club Challenge, which is expected to raise £1million. The competition - dubbed Golf for Heroes - will see up to 50,000 players representing 3,000 clubs take part.

Jump to it ... granny June McIndoe, 78, skydives for £1,300

Teams will play on their own courses next July 24-25, with the six who score the best rounds going into a grand final at famed Ryder Cup course The Belfry next October 11-12.

The winners will bag a luxury golfing holiday at the posh Taba Heights Golf Resort in Egypt.

Backing ... soccer's John Terry visits troops

Top British pro Ian Poulter said: "I am so proud golfers and clubs are giving their support."

England soccer legend and keen golfer Gary Lineker added: "This is all about bringing the golfing community together to show our support to our inspirational wounded heroes."

Rehab ... Headley Court pool

In other fund-raising, super-gran June McIndoe made £1,300 skydiving from 12,000ft - at 78.

June, whose 25-year-old grandson Stuart is a Royal Marine, had her jump cancelled three times because of bad weather.

But her determination to do it was reinforced when she had a spell in Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, where post-mortems are carried out on soldiers killed in action. She said: "What I did was nothing to the sacrifices these boys are making."

Aid ... Para Stuart Pearson at Headley

Many injured Forces heroes have been treated at Headley Court military rehab centre in Surrey including Marine Ben McBean, who was hailed "my hero" by soldier Prince Harry.

Yesterday five injured heroes who have been helped by Headley Court took part in a 10km run to raise cash for it.

Hero ... Prince Harry and Marine Ben McBean

They included Senior Aircraftsman Craig Richardson, 23, who lost his lower right leg in a bomb blast serving with the RAF Regiment in Afghanistan.

Also running was Iraq war veteran Bernie Bambury, 33, a captain in 4 Rifles who lost a leg in a sports accident in Switzerland.

TO enter your club for the golf competition, visit www.nationalgolfclubchallenge.org.uk

t.newtondunn@the-sun.co.uk

Support our wounded troops by clicking here

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2662784/Help-for-Heroes-raises-huge-total-in-second-year.html

Posted by: Grace

Sat Bains to open new restaurant in Nottingham

Michelin-starred Sat Bains plans new city restaurant in Nottingham

Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 08:00

14 readers have commented on this story.
Click here to read their views.

CELEBRITY chef Sat Bains is planning to open up a second restaurant in Nottingham.

The Michelin-starred chef told the Evening Post he wants to bring his celebrated culinary skills to the masses – and at an affordable price.

"I'm looking for a site in town to do something really special," he said.

"We're a high-end restaurant and not everyone can afford to eat here, but I love food and I want to offer it to a bigger audience.

"We'd be offering unbelievably good quality food at a really good price. There'd be no difference – it's the quality of the ingredients that counts."

The chef and his wife, Amanda, opened up their first venture, Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms, in Old Lenton Lane, in 2004. The existing Restaurant Sat Bains has held one Michelin star since 2003.

The couple are now looking to finalise a deal that could see work on a new city centre restaurant begin next year.

Mr Bains revealed they were in talks with a number of estate agents in the city who have been tasked with finding the ideal premises for the new venture.

He said a suitable property had not been found yet, although he liked the idea of basing the restaurant near the new Nottingham Contemporary Art Gallery at Weekday Cross.

Of his vision, he said: "I like the area around the new art gallery. I think it's got a lovely footfall, great potential, and for what I'm trying to offer, it's unique to have this place in town.

"I want to create a nice, twelve-seater restaurant with a Japanese-style counter where you can walk in, watch the chefs cook the food before your eyes, and minutes later it's on the plate. I think that will be a great concept.

"We're looking to do this next year and ultimately it would give us a foot in the city."

He added: "I am proud of being in Nottingham and I want Nottingham to understand that it has a world-class restaurant they can be proud of.

"Me and Amanda have a vision and our team of chefs want to come on the journey. They are young, talented people that are the next generation of restaurateurs."

Mr Bains twice gave live cookery demonstrations during the inaugural Nottingham Food Festival earlier this month.

He said ventures like his, and the event, "would without doubt" help to boost Nottingham's culinary reputation in the UK and internationally.

"Anything to do with food and Nottingham, I want to be involved in," he said. "It's my home and I want to celebrate it.

"Nottingham has a nice generic level of restaurants but people know they can come to the city for a great time for shopping, the theatre, sport and concerts.

"We attract a lot of customers from out of town and they always ask where should they go? I always tell them to go to the castle, Galleries of Justice, the Lace Market, or just into the city.

"I want to push them into the town so they can experience so much of what I love about Nottingham."

bryan.henesey@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Sat-Bains-plans-new-city-restaurant/article-1377737-detail/article.html

With the restaurant opening next year, Sat Bains could be willing to get involved with our event to not only Help the Heroes but also to give him more press coverage for his own restaurant - worth getting in touch with him.

Posted by: Grace

Clothing Sponsorship

Following a meeting with the buyer and seller from Gio-Goi, they will be willing to sponsor us in the form of lending their AW2010 collection to us for our catwalk show.

www.gio-goi.com

Posted By: Lottie

The Sun Says Labours Lost It

TWELVE years ago, Britain was crying out for change from a divided, exhausted Government. Today we are there again.

In 1997, "New" Labour, shorn of its destructive hard-Left doctrines and with an energetic and charismatic leader, seemed the answer.

Tony Blair said things could only get better, and few doubted him. But did they get better? Well, you could point to investment in schools and shorter hospital waiting lists and say yes, some things did - a little.

ut the real story of the Labour years is one of under-achievement, rank failure and a vast expansion of wasteful government interference in everyone's lives.

Nobody can doubt the dedication of Gordon Brown - or the love and loyalty of his wife Sarah, who delivered a moving plea on his behalf yesterday.

But nor can they disguise the failures of Labour in Government over the last 12 years, many of them embarrassingly laid bare by the PM's own words yesterday.

Britain feels broken . . . and the Government is out of excuses.

Blair took office with bulging coffers, an invincible majority and weak opposition, and he and Gordon Brown could have worked miracles.

But they FAILED on law and order, their mantra "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" becoming a national joke. Knife murders are soaring. Smirking criminals routinely walk free in the name of political correctness, while decent people live in a virtual police state of snooping cameras and petty officials empowered to spy and to punish.

Labour FAILED on schools. Yes, facilities improved - but four in 10 kids leave those shiny classrooms still unable to read, write or add up properly. We are plummeting down international league tables for maths and literacy, but every year "grade inflation" ensures record GCSE and A-level passes to fuel Government propaganda.

Labour FAILED on health - spending billions on clipboard-ticking target managers instead of on frontline care.

Labour FAILED on immigration, opening our borders without any regard to the consequences. Illegal migrants and bogus asylum seekers poured in.

Labour FAILED the children they claimed to have made their priority. After 12 years of Blair and Brown, Britain is officially the WORST country in the developed world in which to grow up.

Most disgracefully of all, Labour FAILED our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving them to die through chronic under-funding and the shambolic leadership of dismal Defence Secretaries like Bob Ainsworth.

As our forces in two war zones suffered, the scale of Government waste at home was mind-boggling and tragic:

Billions blown employing a useless layer of public service middle-managers like those who condemned Baby P to die.

Billions more spent, insanely, making benefits more lucrative than a pay cheque - creating a huge, idle underclass for whom work is a dirty word. And all along the Government has had one overriding concern: Itself.

Blair and Brown's puerile feud has long been a cancer at the heart of New Labour, their divisions often paralysing the country.

Labour's driving ambition has not been to improve Britain. It has been to retain power at all costs - with no lie judged too great in its ruthless and relentless self-promotion.

They promised a referendum on Europe. They claimed they had ended "boom and bust". They tried to con the public with promises of endless investment, when they knew they would have to cut.

At the 2005 election, we and our readers believed Labour had many failings but gave them one last chance over a lacklustre Tory party.

They have had that chance and failed.

That is a fact Gordon Brown cannot escape, for all his rhetoric yesterday - his rewriting of history, his absurd caricature of the "heartless" Tories, his tired promises to solve problems he has had 12 years to solve.

Britain needs a brave and wise Government to restore our self-respect, our natural entrepreneurship and the will of every family to improve its lot through its own efforts, without depending on handouts.

We need a Government that will cut the red tape strangling businesses, that will make affordable tax cuts to stimulate growth, that will reform wasteful public services.

We need a Government with a genuine will to win the war in Afghanistan and the commitment to give our forces whatever they need to do it.

This will not be a Government that merely talks the talk, as Labour has. It will ACT.

We hope, and pray, that the next Government will have the guts and the determination to do these things. And we believe David Cameron should lead it.

Between now and the election Cameron's Conservatives must earn voters' trust by setting out their promising policies in detail.

If elected, Cameron must use the same energy and determination with which he reinvigorated the Tory Party to breathe new life into Britain.

That means genuine, radical change to encourage self-improvers, not wasting time on internal party wrangling or pandering to the forces of political correctness. It also means an honesty and transparency of Government that we have not seen for years.

We are still a great people and, put to the test, will respond to the challenges we face.

The Sun believes - and prays - that the Conservative leadership can put the great back into Great Britain.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2661063/The-Sun-Says-Labours-lost-it.html

I feel this is very relevant that The Sun newspaper has changed from being an affiliate of the Labour party to being Conservative due to The Sun being a sponsor of Help for Heroes. One of the main reasons as to why The Sun has stopped backing Labour is due to the way the party has failed our troops in Afghanistan.

Posted By: Lottie