PM RECOGNISES YOUR EFFORTS: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull with
Trooper Jones The Lighthorse Bear

Those with a passion for our military history who have supported the Australia in the Great War campaign and Soldier On were recognised recently when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull officially opened new facilities in Canberra to support veterans and families suffering because of PTSD. 

In launching the new services at the Robert Poate Reintegration and Recovery Centre, Prime Minister Turnbull reaffirmed what many people who support AGW already know – we must share history and proudly support those who serve today.

“It is critical that we do not ever forget that we best honour the veterans of 1916 by caring for the veterans of 2016,” the Prime Minister said. “That's how we honour that ANZAC memory best, most powerfully.”

“The grandsons and the great-grandsons and the great-granddaughters of the Diggers of 100 years ago, they are the veterans we care for today and we do that very well as we, when we, support Soldier On and I'd encourage everybody, everyone who's watching this here today or elsewhere, to consider supporting Soldier On. It is a great charity and it's worthy of private and indeed of course public support.”

The $250,000 raised by Australia in the Great War in the first year of the Great War centenary is helping hundreds of today’s diggers and their families who are dealing with the impact of PTSD after service in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

The funds have allowed Soldier On to expand its services, including at Canberra, which is already seeing almost 300 vets every month. The expansion will allow new services, such as on site psychologists and more comprehensive educational programs; as well as allowing other ex-service organisations to provide services under the same roof.  All of this is expected to improve outcomes for even more veterans and their families.

John Bale, Soldier On CEO, said the work Soldier On does in Canberra at the expanded centre would inform the support provided by the organisation to all veterans across the country, serving as a test site for support programs.

Speaking at the function to open the centre, Stephen & Lindsey Davie, the brother and sister team who created the Australia in the Great War commemorative program, said they were proud of the community that had formed around AGW. 

"Our family has been a part of commemorating military history and service for almost 30 years, but today, when we saw the great work of Soldier On and heard from soldiers struggling to keep lives and families together, we were overwhelmed with pride in our AGW community of proud Australians, and grateful to be a part of helping Soldier On help our modern diggers,” they said.

John Bale used the function to present an Australia in the Great War Trooper Jones Bear to the Prime Minister. In 2016 the AGW bears will be the face of Soldier On’s Diggers Tribute fundraising campaign that will raise awareness of the hardships too many veterans and their families face because of PTSD.

Military Shop provides 10 per cent of all Australia in the Great War sales to Soldier On but for the Diggers Tribute campaign Stephen and Lindsey said they will hand profits from the sale of all Great War bears directly to the charity.

“In 2016 we will gladly give Soldier On the profits from our Great War bears for their Diggers Tribute. We have thousands of collectors who love these bears and hopefully they, and even more people and corporate supporters, will jump on board. We will continue to provide 10 percent of all sales from our collections, but the bears will now be something special.”

The latest bears in the Great War collection;  Leut. Murray the Western Front bear, wearing PH gas mask pouch and broadie helmet; as well as the first every Royal Australian Navy Great War bear, AB Miller in the uniform of H.M.A.S. Australia (I), would also be part of the Diggers Tribute campaign.

“As with every bear we have created for the Great War we work with leading historians to make sure we have something that is an authentic representation of the uniform and story of the time we are commemorating,” they said. “The latest bears in the collection are amazingly detailed.”

John Bale said the AGW bears were ideal as the face of the 2016 Diggers Tribute campaign because they were a tangible way for all Australians, new and old, to share our proud history of service while helping today’s servicemen and women.

To find out more about the AGW Bears and Soldier click the link below.