Thanks for visiting
the Battlegames Combat Stress Appeal page

When I was a small boy, I can remember my father, who served in the Fleet Air Arm during WWII, suffering great distress when he recalled incidents from his wartime experience. Many of us, I'm sure, know of other individuals whose scars may not be visible, but who suffer nonetheless. Only comparatively recently have the armed services begun to properly understand the long-term psychological effects of active duty, instituting 'decompression' either in, or close to, the theatre of operations for personnel about to end their tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many thousands of our service men and women from less recent conflicts have been effectively left to fend for themselves, relying overwhelmingly on the voluntary help offered by charities like Combat Stress. Please help them to help the men and women who have served on our behalf in dangerous places and situations, often in extremely difficult and harrowing peacekeeping operations such as Bosnia, whatever their rank, job or arm of the services.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: COMBAT STRESS gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation. Donations of any amount are welcome, whether just a Pound or two, or more if you can afford it. Every little helps. You can also just put your initials or "Anonymous" in the name box if you prefer.

When I stood on the scales on Monday 18th August, to my sedentary shame, I weighed in at 20st 1lb (281lbs, 127.46kg), so for my part, I'm going to be working to shed a stone in weight (14lbs, 6.35kg) and get fitter by Monday 20th October, in time for issue 15, so please sponsor me now! (You can, however, continue giving, or encouraging others to give, to this Appeal for up to six months if you wish.) I've set a nominal target of £1,000, but it would be wonderful if we could beat this and help to make a real difference! I'll be doing regular updates on the Battlegames Blog.

Huge thanks for your support, whether or not you're a Battlegames reader - all donations are most welcome.

Henry Hyde
Editor, Battlegames magazine

P.S. Find out more about the Combat Stress charity here.

Technical Update, 10am 20th August
One potential UK donor has reported that he got an error message saying there was a problem with his card. After phoning Lloyds Bank to find out what the error was, it turns out that they quite often block donations to these sort of sites to prevent fraud. If you experience a similar problem then please call 0845 6025684.