Blesma News
Latest news from Blesma, The Limbless Veterans
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Wounded veterans to compete at the Armed Forces Parachute Championships
16 August 2016
Four wounded veterans are to represent BLESMA whilst taking to the sky to compete at the Armed Forces Parachute Championships 2016. The team will consist of Ed Appleby, Alex Slegg, Ryan Goodman and Stuart Sneddon. They will be competing at 4-Way Formation Skydiving against able bodied teams from the Armed Forces. All members taking part have been injured during or after service and between them share only two working legs – Ed Appleby is a single amputee from Exeter Devon, Stuart Sneddon is a single amputee from Falkirk, Ryan Goodman is a double amputee from West Midlands and
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Lieutenant-Colonel Jerome Church Obituary
10 August 2016
Jerome Church became chief executive of Blesma, the Limbless Veterans’ association, on the eve of two wars in which the loss of limbs became a concern almost comparable to that for fatal casualties. The insurgencies that followed the initial military successes in Iraq and Afghanistan featured widespread use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), imposing an insidious threat inhibiting deployment under fire and travel on and off roads. Church had lost a leg to an IED in Northern Ireland but found the determination and humour to live an almost normal life. This inspired him to help sh
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Passing of the charity’s National President, His Grace the Duke of Westminster.
10 August 2016
All at Blesma are deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of His Grace the Duke of Westminster, the charity’s National President. The Duke of Westminster became Blesma’s National President in the Summer of 1992, succeeding Sir Austin Bunch. His family had been associated with the Chester Branch for years beforehand, and the Duke was Patron of the branch before becoming National President. The Duke’s charitable endeavours and in particular his support for the Armed Forces will be greatly missed, and everyone at Blesma offers their sincere condolences to the Grosvenor fami
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Future care for the Blesma elderly
9 August 2016
The nature of demand for later life care has changed greatly in the last decade; residential care is occurring very late in life and people wish to be close to their families. The demand for residence at the Blackpool Home has fallen sharply as the World War Two generation sadly passes away. The Home hosted 30 residents in 2014, this year it has hosted only 13 Members and Widows despite opening the doors to Widows last year. 9 residents are from the North West; 30 miles radius is the recognised catchment area for a care home. The Home has bedrooms for 45 residents so it is running
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