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 PRC, which will open in March 2012, is being built with H4H funds and be available to all three services. Lion Walk Shopping Centre is working to help equip the Colchester PRC.”

Our latest effort for H4H began on November 30 2011 when we opened a pop-up shop for the charity and our Hero shoppers raised an amazing £16,465.18 in less than two weeks!

The money came from the sale of H4H goodies at the shop and from collections in the shopping centre in the heart of Colchester.

Paul Bentham said: "That is truly remarkable!!  The good people of Colchester and our visitors never cease to amaze me with their generosity for this essential cause." 

"A BIG thank you also goes to Marianne West and her wonderful team of volunteer supporters without whom the task would have been a bridge too far."

£5,263.85 of the money raised during the two weeks will be ring fenced for the Personnel Recovery Centre (PRC) the charity is building in Colchester. The PRC is also Lion Walk's Charity of the Year and £1,000 has already been raised to help equip this vital facility.

If you want to support Help For Heroes then make a note of this date: Saturday, March 17, 2012. That's when Lion Walk will be hosting the Colossal Cake Sale for H4H. Be warned - we're out to beat last year's sale and that means we need you to bake, buy and eat a huge amount of cake!

The Personnel Recovery Centre is being built by Help for Heroes in Berechurch Road, Colchester. It will be run by the Army and maintained by The Royal British Legion and will provide a 'launch pad to life' where the wounded can learn new skills for a future either continuing in the Services or entering civilian employment.

The Centre’s 2011 Christmas lights switch-on raised £879 to help equip the PRC.

Essex County Coordinator for Help for Heroes, Marianne West, said: “This is our third pop-up shop at Lion Walk Shopping Centre and we are very grateful to Paul Bentham for again giving us a base in the heart of Colchester.”

“The support for Help for Heroes from all round Essex has been phenomenal and especially with Colchester being a Garrison Town. The good people of Colchester flocked to our shop at Lion Walk Shopping Centre in 2010 and they made it a H4H Christmas again this year."

Paul Bentham added: “Lion Walk Shopping Centre is proud to be at the heart of community life in Colchester. Our shoppers and traders have helped to raise thousands of pounds for Help For Heroes and we hope to do even better this year.”

Help For Heroes’ mascot Hero Bear was on hand to welcome the first shoppers when the shop opened.

Following the success of Lion Walk Shopping Centre's Colossal Cake Sale last year the event was back bigger and better in 2011!

On Saturday April 2nd 2011 our all-day sale featured thousands of delicious cakes in every shape, size and flavour. Forget those little cake sales at local fetes - this was BIG - in fact it was Colossal!

The cake sale and a two-day pop-up shop in Red Lion Yard rasied an amazing £7,741.32

The Mayor of Colchester, Councillor Sonia Lewis, was escorted from the Town Hall by Colchester Town Watch and Colchester and District Pipe Band to officially open the event.

There is always plenty going on at Lion Walk to help this fabulous charity.

There have been several other events at Lion Walk to boost funds.

Our fantastic F1 Father's Day activities on Saturday, June 19 2010 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 the 2009 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 one of our biggest fundraising event so far Lion Walk shoppers came up trumps at a giant cake sale in 2010 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!