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INSPIRED by his nephew’s bravery, ex-army serviceman Ed Parker and a mates of mates acceptable up a foundation that’s helped tens of thousands of veterans backmost connected their feet successful Civvy Street.
Ed was motivated to commencement Walking With The Wounded (WWTW) successful 2009 aft his nephew Harry stepped connected an IED portion serving successful Afghanistan and mislaid a leg.
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Ten days later, backmost successful the UK, his different limb had to beryllium amputated for gangrene.
“Visiting Harry, I was struck by the incredibly affirmative cognition helium shared with his colleagues successful hospital,” Ed says.
“The nationalist rhetoric astatine the clip was each pity and sorrow for our wounded heroes.
“But they didn’t privation pity – they were focusing connected returning to their battalions.”
WWTW took a caller cognition to veterans, wholly changing the crippled for them.
“At the clip I was readying a travel to the North Pole with friends and we invited immoderate wounded soldiers – to amusement the satellite they could inactive execute large things,” Ed explains.
In March 2011, Ed skied to the North Pole with 4 injured soldiers arsenic good arsenic – crippled twist – Prince Harry and a movie crew.
“We approached Harry and helium wanted to beryllium involved,” Ed recalls.
“The travel was expected to beryllium a one-off to rise wealth for subject charities and alteration nationalist perceptions of wounded veterans. But afterwards Prince Harry said to me: ‘You’ve got to support this going.’
“So successful 2012 we attempted Everest and, successful 2013, skied to the South Pole.”
Back home, Ed and a person from Sandhurst decided that WWTW should motorboat its ain charitable programme with the wealth it raised.
The way they chose – nary pity, conscionable applicable assistance – was powerful. That’s why, aft nationalist nominations, Ed’s been named 1 of 30 National Lottery Game Changers, chosen to item the bully causes players person helped since the archetypal gully successful November 1994.
‘I WAS ALONE AND ABOUT TO GIVE UP’
DWAYNE, 39, from Leeds, worked successful weaponry disposal arsenic 1 of a four-man squad successful Afghanistan, who bonded aft the near-death situations they faced.
But backmost successful the UK, for the commencement of his archetypal son, Dwayne was attacked and stabbed successful the spine connected a locomotion into municipality with a friend.
After 3 months successful hospital, and having to larn to locomotion again, helium returned to the service and was posted to Germany.
However, aft sustaining nervus harm portion moving extracurricular successful minus temperatures, helium was medically discharged.
Plagued by flashbacks and insomnia, Dwayne struggled to accommodate to civilian life.
He began to portion and his household beingness broke down.
Living successful his car, helium became earnestly depressed and sought help.
Dwayne was diagnosed with analyzable post-traumatic accent upset and was introduced to Clare, a Walking With The Wounded veterans liaison enactment officer.
Clare helped Dwayne find harmless accommodation and enrol connected courses to boost his employability.
Dwayne says: “Without Clare, I wouldn’t beryllium present contiguous – I was astir to springiness up.
“When you permission the army, your enactment operation disappears.
“Suddenly you’re connected your own, trying to integrate into an unfamiliar society.
“But with Clare, I was nary longer alone.
“Last Christmas, Walking With The Wounded adjacent paid for maine to sojourn my children successful Oxford – what a gift!
“Now I person anticipation for the aboriginal again.”
Since then, National Lottery players person raised £30million a week, totalling implicit £49billion and supporting 690,000 projects.
“We offered veterans bursaries to get backmost to enactment – for courses, driving lessons and the tools of their chosen trades,” Ed says. “I became CEO, moving connected the coalface with veterans – and I loved it.”
Then WWTW received a assistance from The National Lottery, which distributes hundreds of millions a twelvemonth to assemblage projects crossed the UK.
“That felt similar a existent validation of our work,” Ed says.
“We started gathering a nationalist web of attraction coordinators to assistance with issues similar housing, loneliness and wellbeing.
“Soon we were helping thousands of radical a twelvemonth and sitting astatine the apical array of subject charities.”
The charity’s occurrence is exemplified by the antheral who inspired it – Ed’s nephew.
“A fewer years aft his mishap Harry, our poster boy, told maine helium wanted to instrumentality a backmost seat,” Ed says.
“He’d near the military, got joined and got a occupation – helium didn’t privation to beryllium everlastingly defined by his experiences successful the army.
“And that’s our goal: supporting veterans into the mainstream and waving them goodbye arsenic they spell connected to unrecorded fulfilling lives.”
WWTW’s Head Start programme, offering ex-military unit accelerated entree to intelligence wellness services, has been accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Last twelvemonth its employment programme supported 232 radical into paid, meaningful jobs.
Ed inactive pulls his walking boots connected to fundraise, trekking 100km crossed the Sahara earlier this year.
“It’s an honour to beryllium a National Lottery Game Changer,” helium says.
“I stock the rubric with everyone who’s been portion of Walking With The Wounded, and the unit and volunteers who alteration veterans’ lives each day.”
Meet the Game Changers
Ed Parker is conscionable 1 of the 7 Game Changers being honoured arsenic portion of the National Lottery’s 30th day celebrations. Each Game Changer has utilized National Lottery backing to alteration the lives of radical crossed the UK, including subject veterans, those warring cancer, the aged and young people.
Trevor Lyttleton MBE, laminitis of Re-engage
For much than 50 years, Trevor’s foundation has held beverage parties to assistance aged radical flooded loneliness. The motto of Re-engage is: “All you request is simply a lukewarm heart, a lukewarm welcome, a downstairs toilet and a ample teapot.”
Dame Laura Lee, CEO of crab attraction foundation Maggie’s
Maggie’s was the imaginativeness of Maggie Keswick Jencks, who died of crab successful 1995. Laura was her caregiver and friend, who past worked with Maggie’s household to marque her imaginativeness a reality.
Sandra Igwe, laminitis of The Motherhood Group
Sandra is simply a formidable advocator for achromatic maternal wellness and laminitis of The Motherhood Group, a societal endeavor supporting achromatic mothers done culturally competent attraction and community-based initiatives.
Marcus Fair, laminitis of Eternal Media
Marcus was addicted to heroin and ace cocaine for 25 years and has experienced homelessness and incarceration. His foundation Eternal Media supports much than 700 offenders and ex-offenders by giving them opportunities successful filmmaking.
Javeno McLean, idiosyncratic trainer and proprietor of J7 Health Centre
Celebrated for his life-changing enactment with disabled, sick and aged people, Javeno’s inspirational societal media videos person attracted millions of fans.
Conor Largey, Belfast younker idiosyncratic and Empowering Young People coordinator
From skipping schoolhouse and getting successful occupation to a beingness dedicated to helping young radical execute their goals and potential, Conor has earned designation for his inspirational enactment with Belfast’s young people.
Find retired however playing The National Lottery helps alteration lives ‘every day’ astatine national-lottery.co.uk/life-changing
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