Help for Heroes Veterans Team Up With Tennent's to Train for Career Success

GLASGOW, Scotland, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Help for Heroes and Tennent Caledonian have announced a new partnership that will support injured UK military veterans with training for a successful career in the hospitality industry.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140326/677519 )

This pioneering new initiative will see specialist hospitality training courses provided for Help for Heroes veterans who have suffered life-changing injuries and illnesses whilst serving our country.

Courses in essential areas such as bar and service skills, cookery, cellar management and industry legislation will be hosted by the experts at the brewer's successful Tennent's Training Academy at Wellpark in the East End of Glasgow.

Ahead of an initial courses scheduled to take place on 27^th March, veteran and Help for Heroes ambassador Jon Le Galloudec was in Glasgow to meet with chefs from the Academy and to sample what the courses will offer.

Tennent's proposed the new partnership following the release last October of a special charity edition of the brewer's premium Tennent's Original Export that donates every penny of Tennent's profit to Help for Heroes, aiming to raise £500,000 in total.

The Tennent's Training Academy courses will be funded by Help for Heroes, as part of the charity's ongoing work to support wounded veterans upon leaving the armed forces, enabling them to develop skills for life.

George Kyle, Head of PR and Sponsorship for Tennent Caledonian, commented: "Our initial partnership with Help for Heroes focused on raising money for this very worthwhile cause. However our team has really grown to understand the impressive life-long support that the charity provides for wounded veterans, which includes training them for suitable careers once they are out of the military and in rehabilitation. It made perfect sense for us to extend the work that we do at the Tennent's Training Academy to include courses for Help for Heroes veterans. Like the many thousands of people who have already trained for success in the hospitality sector at the Academy, we are proud and honoured to welcome UK veterans to Wellpark to equip them with the skills and knowledge they will need to forge a successful career in hospitality in the future."

Jon Le Galloudec commented: "The training partnership between Help for Heroes and Tennent's will provide veterans like me, who have suffered life-changing injuries or illnesses, with great opportunities to gain professional qualifications within the hospitality industry."

The Tennent's Training Academy is one of the UK's leading hospitality training centres based in a converted outbuilding at Wellpark and featuring impressive, state-of-the-art bar and cookery facilities. It offers a wide range of courses and unrivalled mentoring and development opportunities, helping thousands of young people achieve standards of excellence to take into the industry.

Help for Heroes endorsed Tennent's Original Export is available at UK Asda stores in 12x300ml pack. At least 50p from the sale price of each pack will be contributed to Help for Heroes Trading Limited which Gift Aids all of its taxable profits to Help for Heroes. Registered Charity Number 1120920.

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Notes to editors

About Help for Heroes

Help for Heroes offers comprehensive support to those who have suffered life-changing injuries and illnesses whilst serving our country. This is provided through grants to individuals, other Service charities, capital build projects and our four Recovery Centres across the UK which will offer support for life. The money raised by the hugely generous public has been used to support our wounded, but there is still so much more to do. Soldiers, sailors and airmen who are injured today will still need our support tomorrow and in the days that follow, for the rest of their lives. They are still battling and we won't let them battle alone. For more information on how the money raised is spent, visit http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/how-we-help/

About  Jon Le Galloudec

In May 2007, Lance Corporal Jonathon "Frenchie" Le Galloudec arrived in Basra for a six-month tour of duty alongside his friend, Corporal Rodney Wilson. In the early morning of 7 June, Frenchie and Rodney's patrol was part of an arrest and detain operation in the Al Atiyah district. During the mission they came under attack and Frenchie was shot in the spine. "Initially it just felt like I'd been hit in the back by a sledgehammer," he recalls. "It took me completely by surprise. During the rescue attempt, Rodney ran 50 feet or so, under heavy fire, to save me. He picked me up and started dragging me to safety. When we were about 20 feet from cover, I heard a massive thud and I fell to the ground. That's when I knew Rodney had been hit." Tragically Rodney Wilson died instantly, making the ultimate sacrifice so that Le Galloudec might live. Frenchie was operated on at the field hospital at Basra Air Station. The bullet had struck his spine, ripping through his gut and a kidney. Later, he was flown to Birmingham's Selly Oak hospital. He was then transferred to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he stayed for nearly three months. Despite the doctors telling him he would never walk again, Frenchie stubbornly ignored them, and two months after he was shot he took his first wobbly steps. He remembers: "The first time I walked I was in tears, my mum was in tears, even the nurses were in tears - I just didn't think it would ever happen for me. I was told that I would always be in a wheelchair so walking out of the hospital, three months later, and proving them wrong, was one of the best days of my life." He then spent 18 months at DMRC Headley Court where he learnt how to walk again and adjusted to life as a wounded soldier: "The beauty of Headley Court was that no matter how badly your day was going, you would see someone who had no legs or who was badly burnt and you'd realise that everyone is struggling. Ultimately, we'd give each other hope."  It would be all too easy to sink into a dark depression and lose control of your life. However, Frenchie pushes himself to be the best he can be, feeling he owes that much to Rodney: "The only way for me to honour Rodney's memory is to live my life to the full." In October 2009, Frenchie was part of a group of five wounded soldiers who took on the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Help for Heroes. After an arduous seven days, Frenchie and his fellow climbers reached the summit. "The conditions were freezing, with temperatures around 17 degrees below,"  he describes. "It was such an emotional moment for me, as I realised that in so many ways I'd been able to overcome my disability. I thought learning to walk again was hard, but getting to the summit of Kilimanjaro was so much harder! It was painful, tough and at times I wanted to quit, but ultimately the challenge gave me a new lease of life and a thirst to do more to help other soldiers in my position."   Frenchie didn't stop there; in 2011 he climbed Everest with a group of Help for Heroes fundraisers, and he has competed in the 2013 Warrior Games in the US with 35 fellow wounded athletes as part of the Help for Heroes team. In addition to these incredible accomplishments, Frenchie is starting a new career as a motivational speaker.

About Tennent Caledonian

• Beer has been brewed at Wellpark for over 450 years, since 1556.
• The Tennent's business has been brewing since 1740 at the historic Wellpark Brewery in the east end of Glasgow - built by H&R Tennent and today the oldest running commercial concern in Glasgow
• Introduced in 1885, Tennent's Lager is known as an industry pioneer, recognised as being the first commercial lager to be produced to scale in Scotland (and one of the first in the UK) and at the forefront of introducing canned and draught lager to the UK
• The brand is renowned for its iconic 'Red T' logo and for its innovative marketing campaigns,
• In November 2010 the business opened its Tennent's Training Academy on-site at Wellpark. This state-of-the-art facility provides high quality industry training that is accessible for the entire hospitality industry
• Since 2010, as part of an ongoing programme to help build a robust Scottish on trade, Tennent Caledonian has been offering investment finance to its free on trade partners to support cash flow, re-financing and growth plans
• In October 2011, Tennent Caledonian launched a new ale brand for Scotland - Caledonia Best - made with 100 per cent Scottish barley
• Seed Fund
• In March 2012 Scotland's First Minister the Right Honourable Alex Salmond MSP opened a new £4 million bottling line at Wellpark Brewery
• In April 2012 Tennent Caledonian launched a premium export lager for the Scottish market: Tennent's Original Export - brewed in Glasgow using the finest natural ingredients
• In July 2012 Tennent Caledonian was awarded a series of gold, silver and bronze medals at two of the toughest global beer quality challenges: the Monde Selection in Belgium and the International Beer Challenge. Three of the business's new brands fared well in the competitions, with five medals awarded for Tennent's Original Export (UK market), and Tennent's Scotch Ale / Tennent's Extra (Italian market)
• In November 2012, the business raised £16,000 for Capability Scotland following its pledge to donate 5p of every pint sold on the day of Glasgow's Olympic homecoming parade.
• In March 2013 Tennent Caledonian announced a commitment to using only Scottish barley in the production of its core portfolio of beer brands from 2013 onwards

SOURCE Tennent Caledonian