Help for Heroes

Help for Heroes, established in 2007 by Bryn and Emma Parry after witnessing injured service personnel at Selly Oak Hospital, is a leading UK charity dedicated to ensuring every member of the UK Armed Forces community—including wounded, injured, or sick personnel, veterans, families, and allies like Afghan interpreters—can "live well after service." Guided by values of compassion, collaboration, respect, and transparency, it delivers holistic, person-centred support through a Theory of Change emphasizing measurable, multi-disciplinary interventions like ONS4 wellbeing metrics, shifting from recovery centres to frontline, long-term care with veteran-led teams.

The charity funds tailored physical and mental health services (e.g., nursing, occupational therapy, Hidden Wounds interventions), welfare advice, urgent individual grants for adaptive equipment, home adaptations, and household costs, plus social programmes combating isolation via community sports, peer events, and Paralympic pathways. It supports all injury/illness types—not just service-related—and extends to families, while advocating for veterans' rights, Armed Forces Covenant, and resettlement policies. Historically partnering with groups like Blesma and Combat Stress, it now prioritizes direct aid to individuals over intermediary organisations.

Eligible beneficiaries are UK Armed Forces community members and families anywhere in the UK, with no branch, region, or religious restrictions; charities do not qualify for unsolicited grants. Applications are rolling via online "Get Help" form or helpline, assessed case-by-case with supporting evidence (e.g., proof of service, bank statements), typically decided in weeks. In 2023-24, it awarded £1.5 million supporting 5,200 people, with flexible amounts for immediate needs. Distinctively, it rejects siloed aid for bespoke, inclusive recovery, rapidly adapting to crises like cost-of-living pressures.