In support of Help for Heroes

Help For Heroes

Lion Walk Shopping Centre is proud to be at the heart of the great Garrison town of Colchester. We have already helped to raise thousands of pounds for the Help For Heroes charity and there are plenty more great events to come!

If you want to do your bit you can click the link on this page to make a donation to Help For Heroes, go to the official Help For Heroes site and then keep checking our website for Lion Walk events to support our injured service men and women.

Lion Walk Shopping Centre Manager Paul Bentham, who served in both the Army and RAF, is passionate about the cause: “Even before Help For Heroes announced Colchester was to be the site of the first of four Personnel Recovery Centres (PRC) Lion Walk was raising money for this fabulous charity. The centre, which will open next spring, will be built with H4H funds and be available to all three services. I promise that even after Lion Walk has chosen its 2011 charity we will continue to work to help equip the Colchester PRC.”

Our fantastic F1 Father's Day activities on Saturday, June 19 added to the total raised. Perry McCarthy, The Original Stig from the BBC’s Top Gear, visited Colchester as part of the centre’s F1 Father’s Day event.

Shoppers spending £10 or more had the chance to test their driving skills against the legendary former racing driver in a simulator.

For a £1 donation to Help For Heroes shoppers had their photograph taken with The Original Stig who also donated money from the sale of his book on the day.

The next event was the annual Lion Walk charity golf day.

After last year’s golf day raised a buggy load of cash for Guide Dogs for the Blind, the 2010 event was bigger than ever. This time proceeds went to the shopping centre’s Charity of the Year, Help for Heroes.

Businesses and groups were encouraged to enter a team of four or more for the event on June 29 at Five Lakes Golf, Hotel and Country Club.

At our biggest fundraising event so far Lion Walk shoppers came up trumps at a giant cake sale which, together with a book launch and exhibition, raised a staggering £15,500 for H4H. Essex organiser Marianne West said: "Huge thanks go to Paul Bentham of the Lion Walk Shopping Centre for letting us have our Colossal Cake Sale in Lion Walk for the second year, also for enabling Gill Shaw to have her wonderful exhibition at the centre.”

Award winning photographer and Army mum Gill Shaw visited Lion Walk for the launch of her book, The Hero Inside, and the opening of an exhibition of her work. Gill said: “The charity Help for Heroes invites everyone to ‘do their bit’, to show their support, pride and gratitude to our Armed Forces for the brave and spirited work they are doing. This exhibition and launch in Colchester would not have been possible without the generosity of Paul Bentham who stepped up to the mark without hesitation to do his bit.”

Colonel Tom Fleetwood, Colchester Garrison Commander, said: “Help for Heroes is a fantastic charity. We hope to get a Personnel Recovery Centre in Colchester next year and without Help For Heroes we wouldn’t be doing that, so I would urge you to support it."

Traders, shoppers and staff at Lion Walk never miss an opportunity to support H4H. At the launch of the centre’s Football Fever Scratchcard promotion to coincide with the World Cup traders made a donation to the charity in return for taking penalties against mascot Larry the Lion. Top honours went to Jacques Vert Assistant Manager Lorraine Stenton who scored the most goals and only then revealed she used to play for Colchester United Ladies!

And when months of fund-raising fun at Lion Walk raised £5,000 to help pay for a guide dog puppy to be trained there was no hesitation over its name. The puppy will be named Hero as a reminder of the shopping centre’s 2010/2011 charity, Help For Heroes.

Lion Walk really is at the heart of Colchester community life and a great place to shop, meet and relax!