Grimsby WAGAMADS
                       HELPING OUR HEROES
                   In Loving Memory of Grimsby Soilder
                        Trooper Robert Pearson
                   And Every Other True British Hero

Thank you for visiting the Grimsby WAGAMADS Fundraising Page and showing your support!!

You will probably be most familiar with the term WAGs (wives and girlfriends) from the celebrity culture of footballers and their other halves.  But there are many types of WAGs, and not only WAGS but better still WAGAMADS which stands for the Wives and Girlfriends and Mums and Dads Siblings of soldiers who originate from the Grimsby area and we are committed to do everything we can to help our heroes!!!!!

We have formed this group in loving memory of Trooper Robert Pearson a Grimsby soilder (22), who was killed 21st April 2008 whilst driving a Viking Warrior personnel carrier, believed to have been struck by a landmine close to Camp Bastion, in Afghanistan's Helmand province whilst serving for the Queens Royal Lancers. Initially the group came together to fulfil Rob's final wish of a themed superheroes night out and with this initial idea the group have gone from strength to strength with Rob's superhero's themed memorial day on 24th August at Lucarly's in Cleethorpes raising £4500! Further information on this and other activities are detailed below!

Please contact me on stephsmith1986@hotmail.com or www.myspace.com/madmidwifesteph if you have any queries thanks!

A Bit About what we've achieved so far:

Up to date the Grimsby WAGAMADS have been working hard towards 2 main aspects which we believe will really help our heroes.

The first being making sure we have hold an event in memory of Robert Pearson! This was of great importance to us from seeing the way Grimsby responded to Rob's death and the amount of amazing people wanting to show support and respect by lining the funeral route in Grimsby on the day of Rob's funeral.

When some of us last spoke to Rob he said he wanted to organise a Super Heroes night out, so to fulfil Robs wish we have incorporated that into a memorial day.  The Event which was held on the bank holiday sunday 24th August included a fun day and night for families at Lucarly's, Cleethorpes.

This event  was a huge success and raised £4500 so we just wanted to say thanks for all your support!!!!

As well as organising this we have continued with Mandy's fantastic box packing appeal which started in Sept of last year where Mandy sent out over a thousand boxes of essentials to the troops! Since the Grimsby WAGAMADS have been formed we have managed to organise a "box packing day" and send out a further 450 boxes to the troops at once. This appeal is set to continue and details will be provided on our website.

HELP for HEROES is an amazing charity that does exactly what it says on the tin - helps our wounded.  As you have probably gathered by now, our men are away frequently for long periods in dangerous places, and like any military family, we have all had to think about what would happen if our partners were to be injured or worse in action while serving their country.  It is a scary thought, and one we don't like to think about often, but it is of great comfort to us knowing that if the unthinkable were to happen, fantastic organisations such as Help for Heroes would be there to give our other halves the best care possible.  They help our injured heroes by supporting them through various stages of medical treatments, rehab, physiotherapy, and help to provide them with opportunities that will enable them to rebuild their lives, become as independent as possible and hopefully fulfil their potential again.

Help for Heroes was the idea of Appeal Chairman Bryn Parry and a group of friends and relations, many of who have connections with serving servicemen and women. Bryn and his wife Emma wanted to do something to help the wounded and came up with the idea of a sponsored bike ride. They mentioned it to some friends who mentioned it to some more friends and suddenly HELP for HEROES was born and growing fast. A flurry of visits to various offices led to the campaign being blessed by the head of the army, Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt.  HELP for HEROES is backed by the Army Benevolent Fund, the Army’s own charity that does wonderful work for soldiers and other servicemen and women both directly and through its support of other service charities.

"Help for Heroes is an amazing charity with a goal of raising £6m to build a state of the art swimming pool and gym at Headley Court Rehabilitation Centre for our wounded servicemen and women. Money raised from the Commando Challenge will push the appeal nearer its goal and get the building work started earlier than we hoped. Fit or not, bring out your running shoes and sign up to the Commando Challenge"  Jeremy Clarkson.

You can find out more about this fantastic charity by visiting their website:  www.helpforheroes.org.uk and by viewing the video posted on this fundraising page.

PLEASE HELP US HELP OUR HEROES AND THE HEROES OF THIS COUNTRY BY SPONSORING US NOW!!

By Donating on this page you are helping us in our fundraising activities by enabling us to send extra cash direct to Help for Heroes. On the website the cash does not go through us but directly to the charity and therefore gets to those who really need it a lot quicker!

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Help for Heroes 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. So please sponsor us now!

Thank you so much for visiting our fundraising page and sponsoring us xxx

Kindest Regards and Best Wishes to you all,
Thank you again.

Grimsby WAGAMADS xxx