A group of intrepid cyclists will embark on a gruelling 800-mile Rock2Rock challenge from Rock in Cornwall to the rock of Gibraltar to raise awareness and funds for veterans’ charity Launchpad.

The group of eight will take part in the 12-day challenge, setting off on Sunday 17 September from Rock in Cornwall and cycling an average of 70 miles per day, before arriving at the rock of Gibraltar on Friday 29 September.

The group of friends and work colleagues include serving military, veterans and civilians and will be trying to raise as much money for the charity, which provides vital accommodation and targeted support to Armed Forces veterans experiencing homelessness.

The cycle ride is part of a series of events the charity has organised for its tenth-anniversary celebrations with a corporate golf day at the Vale of Llangollen Golf Club on Friday 15 September and a celebration black-tie dinner on Friday 27 October at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The cycle event has been planned and organised by Launchpad’s business development manager, Gary Perriton who is no stranger to cycling challenges. In 2021, Gary who lives in Llangollen, Wales, cycled 650 solo-miles in 11 days from Chepstow in Wales along the entire Welsh coastline to Chester, to raise awareness and funds for Launchpad.

Royal Navy Reservist Gary, has served for 36 years in the Royal Navy across a number of military departments both in the support and operational environments. He served on the front line both at sea and on land and has been commended for his commitment throughout a varied and successful military career including appointments within NATO and FCO.

Commenting on this latest challenge, Gary said:

“This year, Launchpad is celebrating its tenth anniversary so I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion but more importantly, raise awareness of what the charity does to support homeless veterans and raise some vital funds along the way.

 

“After experiencing a wet and windy Wales in October 2021, I was keen for the next challenge to be in slightly warmer climates and having served in Gibraltar, I thought the Rock would be a good place to finish. So, Rock UK to rock of Gibraltar was born!

“Although cycling solo was quite enjoyable, I’m really looking forward to riding with the team this time. I know we’ll keep each other going when things get tough and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of laughs along the way.”

The cyclists will be joined by a support team who will provide first aid and refreshments.

The 12-day bike ride has been supported by a number of organisations and corporate sponsors including Linguassist, Oliver King Foundation, LovIT, Immervox, Me2you Cars, Deskfrnd, Ellanstone, BeUrBest and Cubbie.

Launchpad was founded in 2013 to help veterans struggling with transitioning from the military into civilian life who needed help and assistance, particularly with accommodation. The charity has three houses in the North of England in Newcastle, Liverpool and Durham providing accommodation for 101 homeless veterans – accepting veterans from all over the UK.

To date, over 635 veterans have been supported since 2013 and 139 residents were supported between July 2022 and end of June 2023. On average, over the last five years, 60% of residents successfully moved on from Launchpad to live independently and 32% gained employment during their time with Launchpad.

To support the team on their journey, you can donate via Just Giving at: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/rock2rockcycle

To coincide with the campaign, Launchpad has set up a virtual challenge for people to participate in. The challenge is available at Well Giving by clicking on the following link: https://link.wellgiving.co.uk/3L2slTA

As part of our 10th anniversary celebrations, we’re organising a corporate golf day on Friday 15th September at Vale of Llangollen Golf Club.

Our inaugural corporate golf day, sponsored by Sastech, will help us to raise money and awareness to support the vital work we provide to support veterans experiencing homelessness.

For your donation of £295, you will get:

• Four ball in the event
• Refreshments at the halfway house
• Prizes for the top three teams
• Coffee/Tea and Bacon roll on arrival
• Rolling lunch on completion
• Opportunity to meet other businesses
• A fantastic day out raising money for our brilliant charity

Throughout the day, we’ll be organising the following:

• Hole in one competition 18th hole
• Nearest the pin on ALL par 3s
• Putting competition
• Beat the Pro
• Plus… your chance to WIN a top of the range E-bike (worth £10K) – kindly donated by Oneplanet Adventure

Launchpad exists to provide vital accommodation and support to homeless and unemployed people who have served in the UK’s Armed Forces to help them rebuild their lives.

We help veterans to address their challenges and make a successful transition to civilian life. We can accommodate up to 101 veterans across three houses in Newcastle, Liverpool and Durham. In just 10 years, we have supported over 635 homeless veterans and on average, 61% of veterans we support successfully move on to new accommodation and 41% find paid employment.

Thank you for supporting our veterans!

To enter, please click here.

A 6-week arts and crafts programme which supports health and wellbeing through local activities has commenced at Launchpad’s Hollyacre House in Durham.

Veteran residents living at the house were joined by members of the local community to learn about metal embossing.

The workshops are being delivered by Breathing Space, a counselling and mental health charity based in Witton Gilbert, County Durham and funded through the National Lottery.

Chris Jackson, Activities Co-ordinator at the house, contacted the charity to see if they would be available to engage with residents and deliver the workshops. He said: “We provide a range of activities and workshops for our residents to encourage them to engage and learn new skills. The arts and crafts sessions are always popular, as demonstrated more recently at Easter and the King’s Coronation, where the residents enjoyed making things.

“I was delighted when Breathing Space said they would be able to provide these sessions, which help the residents to keep active and stimulate their minds. Activities like this are always fun but they help with their mental health and wellbeing and encourage them to relax and enjoy some time together.

“The metal embossing workshop also enables us to welcome members of the local community into the house and to give them an opportunity to find out more about Launchpad and speak to some of the veterans who are living here, which they found interesting.”

Gillie Boggon, Project Co-ordinator from Breathing Space Durham, said: “We were awarded funding for our arts and crafts programme through the Happiness Hub grants, via the Pioneering Care Partnership. We wanted to make sure that we were working with and benefiting all sections of the local community. This partnership is exactly what we hoped to achieve in Sacriston. We aim to encourage members of the community to thrive through a wide range of programmes which help to support their physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.”

Launchpad provides vital accommodation and support for up to 101 veterans across three houses in Newcastle, Liverpool and Durham and helps residents to transition from military to civilian life. Hollyacre House in Sacriston, County Durham comprises up to 16 self-contained flats with communal facilities such as a lounge, kitchen, IT suite and gym. Residents are supported for up to two years (longer if necessary).

Clothier Lacey & Co, one of the region’s best-known marketing and PR consultancies, is throwing its weight behind Launchpad, a charity which supports homeless veterans, to help bolster its fundraising activities during its tenth anniversary year.

Launchpad was founded in 2013 by former members of the military community who wished to help veterans struggling with transition from the military into civilian life and needed help and assistance, particularly with accommodation.

Additionally, the founders realised that the sort of accommodation needed was in short supply in the North East.

Accordingly, Avondale House in Byker was the first house to open, followed by Speke House in Liverpool which the charity purchased in early 2015 and its third home, Hollyacre House in Sacriston, County Durham, opened in May 2022.

While 90% of the veterans who arrive at Launchpad are either street-homeless or sofa-surfing, to date, almost 635 veterans have been supported since 2013, 137 residents have been supported between July 2022 and end of June 2023, 61% have successfully moved on and 41% gained employment during their time with Launchpad.

Speaking about the charity and Clothier Lacey’s decision to lend its support, managing director, Philippa Clothier, said:

“We are also celebrating a milestone this year – our 25th anniversary – and we wanted to select a special partnership to mark our successful twenty-five years.

“I have sat on the fundraising committees for several charities over the years but wanted to work with a totally different type of charity in our 25th year. Launchpad just seemed to be the perfect match – putting our marketing and PR skills as well as our extensive network of contacts to work on behalf of those less fortunate who are finally being given a roof over their heads by the charity.

“Many of the residents have mental health issues, ranging from anxiety to service and non-service-related PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Some have just been released from prison, some need help with addictions to alcohol and drugs and others have found themselves homeless because of relationship and family breakdowns or not being able to secure paid employment.

“Whatever their back story, these men and women have at some stage, been prepared to put their lives on the line so that we can all sleep safely in our beds at night. They deserve our help and we are looking forward to working with Launchpad to provide support in whatever way we can.”

CEO and co-founder of Launchpad, David Shaw, said:

“We are very grateful to Philippa and her team that they are keen to work with us in this important 10th anniversary year and we look forward to developing a successful relationship with them. It is timely that we are sharing 10th and 25th anniversaries.

“Launchpad has recently been selected by the government as one of nine organisations to tackle the issue of veteran homelessness. Funding for additional support has been awarded through the Op FORTITUDE programme, a new dedicated pathway for veteran rough sleepers. Staff at Op FORTITUDE will refer callers to a network of support including housing providers, charities and local authorities and as part of the programme, Launchpad will provide additional, sustained support to homeless veterans across all three of its houses.

“We are likely to be entering a much busier period – although we always have a waiting list for accommodation – so it is tremendous news that our PR, communications and business development manager, Craig Downs, will be able to call upon extra pairs of hands.”

Launchpad is marking its 10th anniversary with a fundraising dinner to be held at the Discovery Museum on 27th October. Organisations can support the charity by attending the event, providing a raffle prize or providing training and employment opportunities to residents. Find out more at https://veteranslaunchpad.org.uk

Veterans’ charity Launchpad is one of nine organisations selected by the government to tackle the issue of veterans experiencing homelessness.

As part of a two-year £8.5 million programme, vulnerable veterans across the UK will have access to Op FORTITUDE, a new dedicated pathway for veteran rough sleepers.

A new housing hotline has been set up to give homeless veterans a single point of contact to get them the help they need. Op FORTITUDE staff will refer callers to a network of support, including housing providers, charities and local authorities.

As part of the programme, Launchpad will provide additional, sustained support to homeless veterans across its three houses in Newcastle, Liverpool and Durham. In addition, Launchpad has partnered with Healthier Heroes CIC based in Burnley and together, they will support 230 veterans over the next two years.

Following successful trials delivered for existing veterans, Launchpad will provide combined addiction and mental health psychotherapy services, intensive training and employment support, greater access to community activities and focussed support to help the veterans transition live independently.

90% of the veterans who arrive at Launchpad are either street-homeless or sofa-surfing. Some of the other veterans are referred on prison release with nowhere to go. By moving into Launchpad or Healthier Heroes, veterans’ homelessness and rough sleeping can be avoided.

A grant will provide the veterans with psychotherapy to address their complex mental health and addiction problems, the appointment of Employment & Training Co-Ordinators to support the veterans into employment and transitional support to reduce the risk of veterans becoming homelessness again.

The funding, which was launched by the Veterans’ Minister Johnny Mercer, will see wraparound support services for 1,300 veterans across more than 900 housing units. The programme will fulfil the government’s pledge to end veterans rough sleeping and is part of the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan 2022-2024.

David Shaw, CEO and Co-Founder of Launchpad, said:

“We are delighted to have been selected to help deliver this important programme and further strengthen our aim of helping to reduce veterans homelessness in the UK.

“Launchpad has jointly campaigned the government for this programme, working alongside Riverside Group, Alabaré and Stoll. We, together with Healthier Heroes, are looking forward to supporting a further 230 homeless veterans over the next two years.

“Since it was formed in 2013, Launchpad has supported over 635 veterans while Healthier Heroes has supported 138 veterans since December 2020. On average, over the last five years, 61% of veterans supported by Launchpad have successfully moved on and 41% left in paid employment.”

During the announcement of the funding, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Rt Hon. Johnny Mercer MP, said:

“Everyone deserves a place they can call home, not least those who have served their country. Today’s launch is a huge milestone in ending veteran homelessness and a clear demonstration of this government delivering on its promises.

“There is a lot of great work being done across the country to help veterans get the right level of support. Op FORTITUDE is about bringing all of this together, so any veteran has a clear pathway to get local and customised care.”

Andrew and Rio Powell, Co–founders of Healthier Heroes CIC and Bancroft House, said:

“We are extremely happy to be part of this groundbreaking programme which enables us, as a partnership, to deliver more support to help reduce homelessness within the veterans’ community across the UK.”

Delegates and guests attending a glittering awards ceremony in Newcastle upon Tyne last month have helped to raise thousands of pounds for a charity providing vital accommodation and support to homeless veterans.

A grand total of £3,474 was raised for Launchpad after it was nominated as the charity of choice at this year’s Constructing Excellence North East Awards, held at the Grand Hotel Gosforth Park on Friday 16 June.

Over 500 guests attended the black-tie event which celebrates the North East Built Environment and showcases and celebrates achievements by projects, organisations and individuals as they continue to set the benchmark for excellence.

Now in its 19th year, judges shortlisted a number of projects and organisations to compete across 15 categories. The winners of the North East awards will go on to represent the North East in the national finals in London later this year.

David Shaw, CEO and Co-Founder of Launchpad, said:

“We are very grateful to the Board of Constructing Excellence North East and headline sponsor CDM Recruitment for choosing Launchpad as this year’s charity.

“This year is our 10th anniversary of providing support and accommodation to homeless veterans and we have two houses here in the North East, in Newcastle and Durham, providing accommodation for up to 50 veterans.

“The North East housing and construction sector has always been very supportive of our work and some of the organisations we work with were shortlisted for awards, which is fantastic to see. We are very grateful for the amount of money that was raised but importantly, the event helped us to continue to raise awareness of our work and to engage with organisations that can support our three core aims of housing, health & wellbeing and employment.

“Congratulations to everyone who was shortlisted and won an award.”

Catriona Lingwood, chief executive at Constructing Excellence in the North East, said:

“Launchpad is a charity that very much has our support. It is crucial that veterans have assistance so they can transition successfully from military to civilian life.

“On behalf of CENE and its members, we hope our contribution can make a difference.”

Launchpad runs three houses in the North of England providing accommodation and support for up to 101 veterans. Since 2013, over 620 veterans have been supported across all three houses in Liverpool, Newcastle and Durham.