Cammell Laird has match-funded money donated at a charity auction to help raise £20,000 for Help for Heroes at a special Armed Forces Day (AFD) dinner.
Cammell Laird helped stage the AFD dinner at Wallasey Town Hall on Saturday night to collect funds to help wounded, injured and sick veterans. The event was held one week before AFD is staged on Merseyside, for which Cammell Laird is the headline sponsor.
The event, hosted by Cammell Laird’s CEO John Syvret CBE, was attended by 120 guests, including the Mayor of Wirral, Councillor Ann McLachlan, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, Cammell Laird staff and many local businesses. Serving members of the Armed Forces and members of Liverpool University Royal Naval Unit (URNU) also attended.
Mr Syvret said: “Cammell Laird has a long and proud history of supporting our Armed Services building many of the Royal Navy’s most famous ships. As the headline sponsor of AFD the dinner was the perfect opportunity to support Help for Heroes (H4H) and raise money for a worthwhile and necessary cause.
“H4H is a charity that has done so much for our veterans especially here on Merseyside. We were pleased to be able to raise £20,000 and thank all our guests who gave so generously to support the lionhearted men and women who fight to protect us.”
Speeches were made on the night by John Syvret, the Mayor of Wirral, and Help for Heroes Ambassador Pete Dunning – a former Royal Marine from Wallasey who was badly injured in Afghanistan. Pete spoke about his injuries and how Help for Heroes has helped and supported him through rehabilitation.
The charity raffle and auction featured golf days, signed Liverpool football shirts, trips to Ireland and VIP tickets to the launch of the Sir David Attenborough polar exploration ship in 2018. The total raised on the evening from ticket sales, match funded auction and raffle was £20,000.
Jackie Crozier, North West Regional Manager at Help for Heroes said: “Help for Heroes is hugely grateful to Cammell Laird for their amazing fundraising efforts. We rely heavily on the generous donations raised which directly helps rebuild lives. We’d like to thank everyone who took part for their amazing contribution to supporting our beneficiaries and hope everyone had lots of fun too!”
The evening was compered by well known local comedian Willie Miller while Merseyside opera singer Danielle Thomas, performed songs from World War Two to conclude the evening.
Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, said: “It is fantastic news that so much money has been raised for such a worthwhile cause.
“I was proud to be part of this special evening and there is a real buzz around the Armed Forces Day event itself which is set to be an unforgettable celebration in and around the city.”
Mayor of Wirral, Councillor Ann McLachlan, added: “This was a magnificent sum of money raised for a very worthwhile cause. We were delighted to host the occasion at Wallasey Town Hall, and I would like to thank everyone who supported the event and gave so generously.”
Cammell Laird background
Cammell Laird is one of the most famous names in British industry with roots tracing back to the early 19th Century. The business is located on the River Mersey, in the Liverpool City Region, on the West Coast of England. It is in the centre of a marine cluster, with direct access to many support services. It has a 120 acre site with four dry docks, a non-tidal wet basin, large modular construction hall and extensive covered workshops. Cammell Laird specialises in military ship refit, commercial ship repair, upgrade and conversion and heavy fabrication and engineering. It deals with a wide variety of projects ranging from specialist offshore conversions and fabrication, commercial ship-repair through to the refit and upgrade of highly complex naval auxiliaries. It has also recently re-entered the ship-building market.
The business is further active in the energy sector. It has become a hub of the off shore wind industry and it is offering its facilities and highly trained workforce of engineers for work in the civil nuclear sector and the off shore oil and gas sector.
Help for Heroes background
Help for Heroes, Support for our Wounded, was launched on 1st October 2007. The Founders, Bryn and Emma Parry, wanted to ‘just do something’ to help those wounded in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Initial plans to raise £500,000 on a Big Battlefield Bike Ride led to a meeting with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, who suggested that they put any funds raised towards a much needed swimming pool at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court. With the help of the media, celebrities and The Royal Family, the new charity caught the imagination of the British Public and by the end of the bike ride on 1st June 2008, H4H had raised £6m. By that time, the Trustees had decided that the need went beyond building a swimming pool and the charity should continue and focus on the long-term support of those affected by service.