HQ ARRC Supports
Gloucester Food Bank
There is no better charity at
Christmas time to support
than the local food bank
given the terrible thought
(and reality) of people in our
community going hungry
during the holiday season.
Great news from
Headquarters Allied
Rapid Reaction Corps
(HQ ARRC)! Following last
year’s achievements, the
ARRC has now formally
stood-up a Charitable
Committee designed
to cohere all charitable
activities. The numerous
independent charitable
efforts across our HQ over
the last few years has
shown the importance of
standardising our strategy
in terms of focussing and
synchronising efforts for
all charitable initiatives.
Although in its infancy,
the charitable committee’s
stand-up will go a long
way to strengthen the
focus towards charitable
work on in support of the
broader Imjin Barracks
community.
So, what did the charitable
committee do so far?
Despite the extremely high
operational tempo during
the Autumn of 2017 - with all
ARRC members supporting
numerous large scale
back-to-back exercises (and
planning conferences) - the
ARRC continued with its
annual tradition of running
a charitable campaign in
support of the Gloucester
Food Bank; a charitable
organisation serving
the broader community
surrounding HQ ARRC.
As in the past, all ARRC
members were invited to
provide non-perishable
food, toiletry items, and
cash donations to improve
the holiday season for
those far less fortunate
than themselves. The 2017
Christmas campaign was
launched in the run-up to
the holiday season and
ran over the period 4-15
December 2017. Collection
boxes were placed in the
Officers’ Mess foyer, the
ARRC Headquarters’ foyer
as well as the WOs’ and Sgts’
Mess. The primary goal this
year was to surpass the very
generous donations from the
2016 campaign when 120kg
of non-perishable items and
£620 in cash donations was
collected.
So how did we do? I am
extremely proud to
announce that over
143.0kg of non-perishable
food and toiletry items,
as well as £800 in cash
donations were collected.
The generosity of cash
donations is always critical
as it allows the Food Bank
to target items in very low
supply and is always one of
the easiest, and yet most
important, ways for everyone
to contribute in helping
their local communities. All
food bank donations were
collected and presented to
the Gloucester Food Bank
by the ARRC Charitable
Committee Representatives
where they were distributed
across the local area over the
holiday period. Ms. Anneliese
Sterry, the manageress of
the Gloucester Food Bank,
provided the following
feedback following the ARRC
contribution: “Thank-you for
your continued support and
your donations at Christmas
2017. This generosity is
appreciated by the foodbank
team and those we are able
to help”.
I look forward to working with
everyone on future charitable
initiatives to highlight
the importance of giving
back to our communities.
Coming together to support
charitable causes is such
an enriching activity, so well
done to all and thank you to
everyone for their immense
generosity! On behalf of our
Headquarters, and acting
in my role as interim Chair
of the ARRC’s Charitable
Committee, I was very
honoured to represent our
HQ and present our collective
donations to the Food Bank.
We have now set an upward
trend and I look forward to
continuing and increasing
our annual support.
Major Gary Stone –
Canadian Exchange
Officer, Proudly Serving at
HQ ARRC
Gloucester
Rugby
Remembrance
Day
Saturday 11th November
17, was the Anglo-Welsh
Cup between Gloucester
and London Irish. As
the match took place on
Remembrance Day, it was
designated as Gloucester
Rugby’s ‘Forces Day’ in
support of the Royal British
Legion. There were various
initiatives on the day
including reduced ticket
prices for members of the
forces as well as a choral
performance from the
Innsworth Military Wives,
music from the Nailsworth
Silver Band and the
traditional minute’s silence
ahead of kick off.
In the run up to the day,
Gloucester Rugby club sold
the specially designed ‘Poppy
Shirts’ and during the match,
soldiers from Imjin Barracks
were in attendance to collect
donations from the crowds for
the Royal British Legion.
On Saturday 18th February
18, representatives from the
ARRC and Imjin Barracks,
along with Gloucester
Rugby Club, presented the
Royal British Legion with a
cheque for £7263.18. Nicole
Mayall, Royal British Legion’s
Community Fundraiser
Gloucestershire, said; “I’m
delighted that the collection
smashed our previous record;
all because of the help of
the fantastic volunteers
and the generosity of the
Gloucester Rugby and London
Irish supporters. This is an
amazing increase on last
year’s collection, thank you
so much again. The Royal
British Legion has been able
to answer more than 1,077,019
requests for help from the
Armed Forces community.”
Comd SM Allan Ridler
theIMJIN SPRING 2018
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