The Hull veteran, who served in Afghanistan, hopes the campaign will radically improve the way veterans receive support
Hull armed forces hero Craig Gadd is asking Prime Minister Andy Burnham for a ‘generational shift’ and further support for veterans
An army veteran from Hull has issued a rallying call to local residents to sign an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The letter calls on the government to lead a ‘generational shift’ in support for veterans.
The letter is from armed forces charity Help for Heroes and has already received almost 50,000 signatures in the weeks since it was published online. Craig Gadd, who served in the Army for more than 20 years, has issued a special plea to people across Hull and East Yorkshire to add their names to the open letter and show the region’s strength of support for men and women who have served.
The letter will be delivered to No. 10 Downing Street soon, and the Hull veteran – who served in Afghanistan, where he sustained life-changing injuries – hopes the campaign will radically improve the way veterans receive support. He believes too many veterans are being forgotten about and left disadvantaged.
Mr Gadd explained: “Many veterans, particularly those injured while serving, still struggle to locate and access the quality healthcare, financial security and support they need and deserve. As a nation, we have made a promise through the Armed Forces Covenant, that no-one would be disadvantaged because they served our nation. We are failing to deliver on this promise.”
The open letter calls for the Government to implement the changes outlined in the Charity’s ‘People’s Promise to Veterans’, which sets out practical reforms needed to strengthen support.
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Help for Heroes has reported a 30 per cent rise in demand for its services over the past year. TV presenter Lorraine Kelly CBE, actor Ross Kemp and the former head of the British Army, Lord Richard Dannatt, are among the high-profile names who have signed the letter.
Lord Dannatt said: “Those who wear the Armed Forces uniform accept unlimited liability in service of their country. We should be equally committed to ensuring they have the support they need when that service ends.
“We as a nation made a promise that no-one should be disadvantaged as a result of their service, and now is the time for all of us to hold ourselves to that promise.”
Mr Gadd, who is an ambassador for Help for Heroes, explained an increasingly unstable world means ongoing support for veterans had never been more important. He added: “Help for Heroes has 20 years of experience, supporting tens of thousands of veterans and families, so we know what needs to be done. With the push to expand our Armed Forces, because of an increasingly unstable global picture, if we don’t get this right now, we’re sleepwalking towards a crisis.”
More than 10,000 veterans, and their families, live in Hull and there are 37,000 in total across the wider Humber region. The letter can be found here: An open letter to the Prime Minister | Help for Heroes
Help for Heroes champions the Armed Forces community and helps people live well after service. The Charity supports veterans and their families with their physical and mental health, as well as welfare and social needs. It supports veterans, and their families, from any branch of the UK military, regular or reserves, irrespective of length or place of service, and local civilians (and their families) working under the command of the UK Armed Forces.
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