QEHB Charity, the official charity of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, and UK military charity Help for Heroes recently joined forces to treat our troops to an exhilarating day of off-road driving, thanks to support from kind-hearted company Jaguar Land Rover. The automotive company kindly invited military personnel to take part in an Land Rover Experience off-road driving activity at its Solihull plant. Families and troops from Fisher House, a ’home away from home’ for military patients and their families on-site of the QE, which is home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, joined Help for Heroes Band of Brothers, and QEHB Charity staff.
The day included a factory tour and over four hours of driving Land Rover Discovery, Defender and Range Rover vehicles.
Head of Fundraising at QEHB Charity, Justine Davy, joined the event and said: “We were delighted to be able to offer our military troops, who do so much for us, a day of off-roading fun thanks to kind support from Jaguar Land Rover.
“The factory tour was especially interesting to the engineers among the group and the driving was definitely enjoyed by everyone!”
Dave Watson, injured in Afghanistan in 2010 suffering severe injuries said “What a great day off-roading in some fantastic vehicles – we all really enjoyed the experience”.
April Wickens of Jaguar Land Rover Community Relations said: “It was a pleasure to host this event for the wounded, injured and sick military personnel. We hope they’ve enjoyed the day and enjoyed sharing the exhilaration of driving around our challenging off-road course with their families. We are proud to have signed the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant. Following our involvement in the Invictus Games, we’ve launched various initiatives to help ex-servicemen and women prepare for careers in the automotive industry. We recruited 100 ex-military personnel in 2014 and aim to take on up to 150 more this year.”
Since opening its doors in June 2013, Fisher House, a project between QEHB Charity, Help for Heroes and American charity Fisher House Foundation, has provided over 8,000 nights of free accommodation to families of wounded and ill troops and veterans. The 18 bedroom facility offers a place of peace and comfort for families during times of great hardship, and although families stay at the house for free, it costs QEHB Charity £25 per night to accommodate them.
