Blog from the founder of the charity Little Troopers. Military wife and mum sharing thoughts and feelings of being a British Armed Forces family.

Little Troopers is a registered charity supporting all children with parents serving in the British Armed Forces, regular or reserve. We provide fundamental resources, initiatives and events to ease and aid repeated separation periods aiming to keep parent and child connected and bonded even when miles apart

27 Feb 2011

A Little Trekkers daddy returns...for a short while

During an operational tour a soldier gets a 2 week leave break...to come home, rest, see family and friends, for Madison this has come a couple of weeks before the trek! Her daddy returned last week and goes back to Afghanistan next week and she has loved having the opportunity of showing him all they have achieved and all the bits in the scrapbook and of course the blog!


Tony also did some filming with BFBS TV forces welfare http://www.bfbs.com/news/topics/forces-welfare we will post the link of course after the piece is shown.

Here daddy of  a Little Trekker blogs about coming home and what he thinks of the 'My daddy is a soldier trek 2011' and  how important the focus has been for the little girls....

"Well it's good to be home seeing my girls and to have a relax. Didn't last long as we had some filming for BFBS and I saw first hand how long it takes to get two minuets of footage. I try to keep up to date with all the stuff that is happening with The Little Trekkers but actually what I see on the internet is only a fraction of what happens and actually the work that goes on behind the scenes by Louise and the other mums is unbeilevable knowing that Lou holds down a full time job and looks after a seven year old, how the trek and HomeFront Forces have had the coverage they have had is amazing.
Well its great to be home and its brillaint to see how much this means to Madison, Louise and all the girls with my own eyes and to feel a part of it is fantastic!!  Once again I wish them all the luck in the world and cant wait to see all the pictures of them at the top of Snowdon while I finish my time off in Afghanistan"
only 12 days until Trek day!!!!!!!! xx

Project 65 supporting The Little Trekkers

Project 65 have been so supportive to The Little Trekkers adventure and we'd like to say a really big thanks for that...much appreciated, also all the great goodies the girls were sent by Danny at Project 65 and tickets to The Forces Festival http://www.forcesfestival.com/ the girls are really excited about coming in May!! Thank you



Project 65 – The Veterans Charity was founded in 2008 to raise funds for the care and support of wounded armed forces veterans and their families.
There are hundreds of different issues faced by UK armed forces veterans and families of the armed forces community. Project 65 – The Veterans Charity focuses on raising money to help fund the vital care and support available for EVERY issue faced by those associated with forces life.
These issues include:
·         Treatment and rehabilitation following wounding or injury
·         Mental health
·         Illness
·         Financial support
·         Housing
·         Education
·         Employment
·         Bereavement counselling
·         Childcare
·         Mobility
·         Family welfare
Every pound raised by Project 65 – The Veterans Charity will make a difference to the amount of money we can provide for our chosen beneficiaries and will enable them to continue providing the vital care and support they give to individuals and families affected by injury or trauma as a result of service in the UK armed forces. These do not just include the current and recent conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan but also Kosovo, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, The Falklands, Borneo, Aden, Korea and of course WWII.
More information about the charity and how you can help or get involved can be found at
www.project65.net

The girlies even got their Project 65 bands into the Daybreak VT...


20 Feb 2011

The Little Trekkers on Daybreak 18/2/2011

We only got confirmation the day before...the next day we were to go onto the Daybreak sofa to talk about the girls' adventure!!! Our car was coming at 5.30am....

We had pre recorded a short piece with the Daybreak team a week or so previously...here's some pics of that day:

 











Friday 18th February...5.30am and our car came to get us...three VERY excited girls who had only managed  5 hours sleep the night before were now on the way to the big smoke....passing Big Ben and Buckingham Palace....6.20am we arrived and were taken to the green room (lots of pasteries awaited)

The whole team at Daybreak were so lovely and made us feel so welcome and Jason Manford was there too, he wore a Help for Heroes wristband for us and he was such a giggle!

Make up and hair done we had a chat with the producer as we went through how our section would take shape, mics on, a coffee and some fruit and we were ready to go...into the studio we went!



Christine and Dan couldn't have been more accommodating and so sensitive and interested to our situations and what we were doing and why...much appreciated in the circumstances...we all felt so at ease :-)




We went back on the sofa at the end of the programme and we even managed a photo in the green room with the FA Cup and of course the lovely Christine and Dan.

A fantastic day for the girls' and the trek and  it all helps to open peoples eyes to our world a little bit...the life of a forces child isn't always easy but each and every one is a strong, independant proud child.

Check out http://www.homefrontforces.org/ and if you saw they piece and wanted to donate to the trek you can do so here http://www.bmycharity.com/mydaddyisasoldiertrek




The Little Trekkers and lots of trek fun!!! Channel 5 News

What a week was had for The Little Trekkers....Daybreak (which we will cover later) Channel 5 News and cbbc Newsround,the word about the trek is really getting round and this has helped donations in such a positive way...at the time of writing they have raised £2677.18 for Help for Heroes which is amazing!

Do see below the Channel 5 News piece...apologies for recording but this isn't available online!

17 Feb 2011

The Little Trekkers have sleeping bags!!!!!

A huge thank you to all at Outdoor Kit http://www.outdoorkit.co.uk/ for the sleeping bags they donated, the girlies really will be so glad of these after a long days trek!! The Vango Winderness 350 is just what they needed...thanks again from The Little Trekkers xx

The Wilderness collection offer superior quality and styling. 
  • Single-layer, stitch-through construction the insulation is held between the shell and lining fabrics
  • Single-hole siliconised hollow fibre insulation reduces matting of filling, increasing durability and maximises lofting potential for extra warmth
  • Independently tested temperature ratings independently measured in accordance with EN 13537:2002
  • Polair shell highly durable polyester, tough and washable
  • Polair TC lining extremely cosy, comfortable lining

 

13 Feb 2011

More media for The Little Trekkers

The girlies are getting quiet a bit of media coverage, they love it and its had such a positive impact on what they are doing and why... the donations are up to £2,148 so far!!!

ITV1 London ran a lovely news piece http://www.itv.com/london/homefront-forces92155/ the girls had great fun filming this and the reporter was so lovely...HomeFront Forces also had people contact them about their site after the piece went out so all round...GOOD JOB DONE!

 

















On the same day a local paper also came to take some pictures of the The Trekkers, the were very good at being told what to do!!! :-)

 4 weeks to go and counting, we really want to make £3,000.........

Trek T-Shirts

Thank you so much to all at Splash Logo http://www.splashlogo.co.uk/ for the amazing T-shirts they have provided for all the children and adults!!!


And thank you to a Little Trekker for modelling the t-shirt so well!!!!

10 Feb 2011

BBC South Today

BBC South Today filmed two of the girls last week when they visited Help for Heroes HQ in Wiltshire, they had a great day and the piece was show on Sunday night on South Today, see below (fast foward to 0.35)

Kit additions

The girls almost have all the kit they need for their Snowdon trek in a few weeks with much of the gear already having been tested on the practice trek last weekend. They are still in need of fleeces.....

We have been blown away and have some massive thank you's to make..it really wouldn't have been possible without all the donations:

 
 
Julian at My Holiday Partner http://www.myholidaypartner.com/hiking_equipment thank you so much for the day sacks for the girls they are perfect!!








Jenny and Ian at Junior Pursuits
http://www.juniorpursuits.com/ Thank you so much for all you sent the girls, gloves and thermal tops all fantastic and a great fit for all! A really touching letter was also included with the gear, I have quoted from this letter below:

'The men and women in the armed forces do such an important job and are very brave, what you are doing helps make sure we all remember how important they are and how proud we are of them'









Fantastic hats and gloves were sent for the girls from Andrew at Catstycam the outdoor shop
http://www.catstycam.com/

The hats and gloves were featured on the girls BBC South piece




Andrew said 'we really do believe in the work done by Help for Heroes so it is a pleasure to be able to help out'





Last shout out to http://www.waterproofworld.co.uk/  who sent through some fantastic base layers for the girlies!
Thank you once again for your kind donations. Lots of love from the girls xxx

6 Feb 2011

Moel Siabod - Practice Trek Photos

Some photos from the practice trek - 5th February 2011...a VERY hard challenge but these girls' are are made of strong stuff!

 Some of the team





and still they wear a smile :-) xx

Practice Trek - 5th February - Moel Siabod

We set off for North Wales after a busy day for the little trekkers, it was about a 5 hour journey but the excitement got them through it! We arrived at our home for the weekend http://glanaberhotel.co.uk/  can I take this moment to thank all at Glan Aber for making us so welcome and looking after us so well...if you are ever in this area do stay here...the breakfast alone is worth it!!!

Saturday we were all up bright and early in good spirits with the girls in all their donated walking gear and raring to go! Trek Leader Mark had the route and GPS at the ready...off we go!

The weather was horrendous as we set off but this was what we were here to do and we knew we had to get this under the girls belt so they would be ok for the real thing in 5 weeks knowing what to expect....nothing could have prepared us for what was to come....

The weather got worse but we carried on getting higher and the wind and rain getting worse, writing this blog my tummy did a flip remembering quite how bad it was! The girls all reached their mental brick wall...at different times thank goodness and we had tears from all three but we tried to motivate and remind why we doing this and they carried on, can I say at this point that you will NEVER comprehend how proud I am of all three of those girls and how they handled Saturdays trek.


The weather continued to get worse but we were at the point where we had to get to the top and drop down as retracing our steps would take longer....the rocks were slippery now and visability was bad with the rain feeling like needles in your cheeks. Our kit was really struggling and the girls had wet feet, cold, numb hands and red raw cheeks from the wind and rain...but still they carried on. As we were reaching the top dispair started to creep in 'are we anywhere close?!' 'should we really have attempted this?' silence because none of us could speak for concentrating and making sure the girls were ok. Victorias mummy pulled a muscle so was slightly behind but we all stayed tight and kept going...


Painc then set in, the wind at the top was so strong it was close to lifting the girls off their feet...I will admit now that I was scared it was like nothing I had experienced before and I served for 5 years in the British Army seeing active service!!! holding onto a fence we kept low and scrambled into a ring shelter, the girls were frightened now this was so far out their comfort zone, the spare kit was wet and all the kit we were wearing was sodden...the only way was down.

The first third of the desent was tough, the wind and rain didn't ease at all and I fell into a bog to waist height...the ice cold water took my breath away! My only focus was getting down...it was steep, wet, rocky, boggy and we had all seperated somewhat as we got tired but after an hour or so we reached a woods. This provided some respite from the wind and we could grab some chocolate for energy and continue down the mountain.

Finally after 6 hours...7 adults, 3 amazing 7 year old girls and a dog reached the bottom...wet, tired, emotional, sore but what an achievement WE DID IT!

Moel Siabod is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, which sits isolated above the villages of Betws-y-Coed and Capel Curig. At 872m it is the highest peak in the Moelwynion mountain range. From the top of the mountain, it is reputedly possible to see 13 of the 14 highest peaks in Wales on a clear day without turning one's head. The words Moel Siabod translate from Welsh as Scabby Hill

Help for Heroes Visit and BBC Filming

Friday 4th February was a very exciting day for the trek girls! They were invited to go to the Help for Heroes office and meet the team...oh how they were spoilt! They were given the sweetest teddys and made to feel so welcome...they didn't want to leave

The Help for Heroes Office is an amazing place with every space on the walls covered in amazing pictures from fundraisers and volunteers, the people wear the biggest smiles ..... they can't wait to go back and present the final cheque! Thank you for having us H4H



I could have stayed and chatted all day but the gils had things to do...

BBC South were filming so off we went in search of a muddy path to film down, which we found! Isabella and Madison (Victoria had commitments at school) had a giggle laughing and playing and a few little interviews and the piece was a wrap!!



A little interview with Spire FM was also squeezed in http://www.spirefm.co.uk/news/review.php?article=357699 then it was off in the car to North Wales for the practise trek weekend!!! Phew what a day :-)

Trekker 2's daddy blogs

Isabella is Trekker 2, her and Madison have been friends since they were 2 years old and went to nursery together. Isabellas daddy deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months last year and her mummy who is also a serving soldier has also been on an operational tour of Afghanistan, here is a blog post from her daddy:

'It is a privilege to be a part of the trek and I know that today and filming has really cemented the idea in Isabella's mind especially after she met up with both Madison and Victoria for the day. 

Isabella came home and of her own volition took her £2 pocket money out of her money box and put it in the H4H collection tin. What is remarkable is that she only got pocket money for the first time last weekend!

She's really excited about the practice walk this weekend and the opportunity to try out the incredible kit that has been donated by some very generous companies. 

The work that you're doing to raise awareness for HomeFront Forces and raise money for H4H has clearly been recognised as many people from across the country recognise the sacrifice being made by both those serving and their families and therefore not only give generously financially but in donated equipment or time in this time of austerity. 

I'm really glad to be joining you all on the trek. A very proud Daddy.'