The ‘Coming Home’ appeal was launched yesterday by Haig Housing Trust to find and adapt accommodation for Servicemen left severely disabled by battlefield injuries.
Since the start of the last Iraq War in 2003 there have been 675 seriously injured or very seriously injured British casualties, many of whom have unique housing needs. Coming Home aims to meet that challenge and has already bought a suitable house for Marine Mark Ormrod who lost both legs and his right arm when he trod on a landmine in Afghanistan.
Mark, 26, whose wife Becky is expecting her first child, said: “If Haig Housing Trust hadn't stepped in to save the day then I’m not sure where we would have ended up once I left the military.”
David Cameron said: “I am delighted to support Coming Home in its mission to find and adapt housing for seriously disabled soldiers. These brave men and women risked their lives for us on a daily basis and suffered life-changing injuries as a result. As Prime Minister I will do what I can to recognise the contribution of those who served in defence of our country, and in particular we have kept our promise to write the principles of the military covenant into law. But there is clearly more to be done on so many different fronts and so I wish Coming Home every success for the future.”
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Supporters and senior military figures attended the campaign launch in London’s National Army Museum. They included General Lord Dannatt, former head of British Army and Christina Schmid, widow of bomb disposal expert Olaf Schmid. They heard the Chief Executive of HHT, Major General Peter Besgrove outline the horrific cost paid by the brave Servicemen on the front line. He said: “The past two years alone account for 300 serious or very serious injuries and the numbers continue to grow. We already have 55 people who are asking for help and are on our books.
“The £20 million raised will buy suitable properties for these disabled and will provide the secure, affordable and, above all, individually adapted homes in the right places from which our wounded can start their new lives.
“Many of our wounded are now surviving injuries that would have proved fatal 20 years ago. Given their injuries, rehabilitation takes much longer, sometimes as long as four years. Given the numbers who have been seriously wounded it is only over the past 18 months or so that we have begun to see them emerging from the rehabilitation system. For many the next step means leaving the Forces and starting their lives again. But some of these wounded simply have nowhere suitable to live once they are discharged from the Services. They had no plans to return to civvy street quite so suddenly, and certainly not in the disabled condition they now find themselves in.”
HHT will work as the strategic housing partner for Help for Heroes, who was at the Coming Home launch.
(GK)
