I signed up for the Skiing with Heroes Business Challenge in memory of my grandfather and two of my uncles. You can read their stories at the end of this page. 

My aim is to raise funds for the Skiing with Heroes (SwH) programme. The charity has a unique and intensely personal approach to rebuilding shattered lives. 

I’ll be paying all of my costs so 100% of what you donate will be helping the veterans directly.

As part of a Vodafone team of four, in events taking place 28-31 January 2016, we will be tested against other corporate teams as well as veterans in a ski marathon and a grand slalom. The company is donating our time for the competition and will match some of our funding.

In February 2016 SwH will be helping 26 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have had devastating injuries back into employment through a ski-based support, mentoring and induction programme. 

Many veterans struggle to find jobs because of their injuries, and the charity's work continues once their ski week is done. Every veteran on the 2013 ski week that asked for SwH's help in finding employment has now found a job. 

You can also read about the work of Skiing with Heroes here: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2825194/Hope-heroes-meet-forces-veterans-lives-transformed-charity-Skiing-Heroes.html 

And at http://skiingwithheroes.com/

Below are some quotes from Veterans who took part in last year's programme:

“In every way possible, Skiing with Heroes has turned my life around”

“I am so very, very grateful for all that you and your team did for me (and my wife). I am still smiling which is such a change for me. I am starting to feel happiness which has been absent for far too long now. I do believe that my recovery has begun.”

 “With my walking stick, I’m an invalid, in skis, I’m just another person”

"I feel like my life has moved on a million miles”

“It was as if a line had been drawn in the sand. I stopped thinking about the negatives and realised I could look forward to the future”

No donation is too small, but here are some examples of where the money goes:
£25 - is a valuable contribution towards the Skiing With Heroes veteran assistance costs.
£100 - pays for a significant chunk of a veteran’s one-on-one mentoring. Helping a veteran focus on a progressive, achievable life-plan is crucial. Such support can take many forms, from the building of business plans and instigating lifestyle routines, to seeking the right professional or medical advice.
£500 - helps to pay for the full assisting of a veteran into sustainable employment. This entails everything the veteran requires from strategising, job seeking, CV writing, interview guidance, starting a job and beyond.
Mentoring a veteran typically costs £1,000 per year, and the employment programme costs about £5,000 per veteran.

All UK-taxpayers, please remember to tick the gift aid box, as this allows the charity to reclaim the tax suffered on your donation. For a £100 donation, this means the Charity receives £125 which significantly aids the programme.

Now…about my family….

My Grandfather, Frederick Lawrence Wheeldon DSO, though decorated for bravery in WW1, drank a bottle of whisky a night. Having read the account of what he did at the Battle of Oppy Gavrelle in Northern France a century ago this year, I cannot help thinking that, if he had been given access to better support and rehabilitation after his act of bravery, his life - and that of his children - might have turned out better. If you are interested in history, you can read more about what he did here http://www.pals.org.uk/oppy2.htm

Philip was shot down over Germany in a Halifax bomber on my mum’s 16th birthday, 13th April 1942. He was a gunner aged 23. His daughter never knew him.

All I really know about Freddy, one of the other brothers, was that he was never the same after he was lost in Burma during his military service in WW2. After returning to the UK he used to periodically go missing. When his parents became frail his siblings traced him with the help of the Salvation Army. He held down a job, but after he retired he didn’t have much left. By the time he died he was living on and off in a hostel.

Having seen the impact all of this had on my family - the men directly involved and their parents, children, brothers and sisters - I jumped at the opportunity to help today's veterans take part in a programme that will help rebuild their confidence, strength and independence.

I cannot deny that I also love skiing and think this will be an experience which will push me to my physical and mental limits whilst raising money for a cause that means a lot to me. Meeting and skiing with the veterans will be an incredible challenge, physically and emotionally.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.