St Dunstan's
Legion provides £2.6m for Poppy Wing at St Dunstan's
Llandudno Centre
9 March 2011
St Dunstan's, the national charity supporting blind
ex-Service men and women, has received a generous donation of £2.6
million from
The Royal British Legion which will go towards a high dependency
unit at its
Llandudno Centre.
The specialist unit will be named thePoppy Wing, in
recognition of The Royal British Legion's generosity, and will
enable St
Dunstan's to provide the highest quality services for
beneficiaries with
serious medical needs from Wales and the North West of England.
Equipped with
11 high dependency beds, as well as a rehabilitation sports gym,
arts and
crafts room and training kitchen, the new facility will enable St
Dunstan's to
help even more ex-Service men and women to discover a life beyond
blindness.
The Royal British Legion, which celebrates its 90th
anniversary this year, has made the donation as part of its
ongoing commitment
to the welfare, interests and memory of the Armed Forces
Family.
Andrew Jones, Director of Fundraising and Communications,
St
Dunstan's and Mike Greenwood, The Royal British Legion North Wales
County
Manager at the Llandudno site (photo Mike Poloway)
The creation of the Poppy Wing forms part of a wider
renovation and expansion project which is currently underway at
the site of the
former North Wales Medical Centre. The new Centre will provide
bespoke
rehabilitation and training from St Dunstan's highly trained
staff, who will be
recruited over the coming months ahead of the Centre's opening
later this year.
Robert Leader, Chief Executive of St Dunstan's, said:
"We are honoured to accept this donation from The Royal British
Legion,
which will enable us to build a high dependency unit with ten beds
at our
Llandudno Centre. The unit is essential to ensure St Dunstan's can
continue in
its mission to enable blind ex-Service personnel to live
independent, full
lives, and it will be named the Poppy Wing as a mark of our
appreciation. This
is a wonderful example of organisations working together to ensure
that our
brave troops receive the help they urgently need to cope with the
challenges of
blindness and other injuries, especially at a time when men and
women are
returning from current conflict wounded every day."
The Royal British Legion Director General, Chris Simpkins,
said: "It is with great pleasure that the Legion has made a
£2.6million
donation to fund a high dependency unit at St Dunstan's new
Llandudno Centre.
The Legion has taken care of serving and ex-Service people and
their families
for 90 years and continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with all
who serve.
It's an honour to support the fantastic work of St Dunstan's
through our
external grants and we are delighted that the new unit will be
named the Poppy
Wing, in recognition of our donation. The new Poppy Wing will be
an important
addition to the Llandudno Centre, which opens later this year, and
where St
Dunstan's will carry out its world class rehabilitation and
training enabling
blind veterans to overcome the challenges of sudden sight
loss."
For more information please contact:
St Dunstan's
Bhakti Chauhan T: 020 7616 7912 M: 07595 551389 E:
Bhakti.Chauhan@st-dunstans.org.uk
Andy Shaw T: 020 7010 0806 M: 07515 005112 E:
Andy.Shaw@kindredagency.com
Jessica Green T: 020 7010 0802 M: 07905 000122, E:
Jessica.Green@kindredagency.com
The Royal British Legion
Afsheen Latif T: 020 3207 2243, M: 07901 110819
E:alatif@britishlegion.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
St Dunstan's
· St Dunstan's,
established in 1915, is the national charity providing lifelong
support and rehabilitation to blind ex-Service men and women
· St Dunstan's
promotes and enables beneficiaries to regain their independence,
meet new challenges and achieve a better quality of life
· St Dunstan's
supports anyone who has served in the Forces who has lost their
sight due to war, age, accident or illness and the charity's duty
of care extends to all
beneficiaries and their families for life
· St Dunstan's is a
centre of excellence for welfare support, rehabilitation,
training,
respite and nursing care for blind ex-Service men and women
· The St Dunstan's
Llandudno Centre has received funding from Help for Heroes, The
Royal British Legion and represents a major collaboration of
military charities
coming together in support of our Armed Forces
· For more information
visit www.st-dunstans.org.uk
The Royal British Legion
· The Royal British
Legion is the UK's most effective campaigner on behalf of the Armed
Forces Family
· This year alone the
Legion will spend more than £72 million providing assistance to
over 160,000 Serving and ex-Serving Armed Forces personnel and
their families,
providing housing, employment, and financial assistance to those
who have
served
· The Legion spends
more than £200,000 a day or £1.4 million a week delivering its
vital welfare work and support to current and ex-Service personnel
and their families
· The Royal British
Legion is proud to celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2011 and aims
to raise £90 million to stand shoulder to shoulder with all who
serve
· In its 90th year,
the Legion's work is crucial to helping the "Afghan
generation"
of the Armed Forces family·
More information about the Legion's External Grants Scheme is
available here
