Inspiring Hope
Our mission is to inspire hope. To help others see and believe there is always hope, however dark things may seem.
Whether that’s through the incredible work of our Charity Partners, or community initiatives we are running directly, uniting people and spreading positivity is the goal, and we’re leading the charge.
None of this is possible without your help.
We are grateful for every penny and minute you can spare to help us with our mission. Together we can ensure that tomorrow will be a good day for so many more.
You can read about just some of our work below.
Making a real difference to people’s lives…
Mind
The Captain Tom Foundation are proud to support Mind who provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.
The following film details why the work Mind has been doing is invaluable, helping people through these challenging times.
Jess, 30
Jess has experienced mental health problems since the age of 15, and has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, anxiety, and an eating disorder. She has spent a lot of time in hospital over the years, and was recently discharged from a five-year admission, which coincided with the country going into lockdown.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in hospital and this environment can be incredibly scary, anxiety-provoking and stressful. One of the hardest things I’ve found since becoming unwell was the damage that mental health problems can have on social networks and relationships. It’s incredibly difficult to maintain friendships and social circles when you are in and out of hospital, unable to work, study or in some cases leave your house. One of the most effective methods I found to get myself through that was to find my own corner and sit and do my crafts. It was literally a life saver for me.”
Matt, 30
Matt has struggled with major depressive disorder for almost a decade. He said it’s been a long and hard journey of discovery for himself, trying out numerous therapies, medication and major lifestyle changes to combat and help fight this, often debilitating, disease. There have been extremely dark times, where he has ended up fighting for his life in emergency services after overdoses and self-harming, to episodes of brief psychotic disorder due to complications surrounding withdrawal from medication. More recent therapy, combined with lifestyle changes, has really helped Matt to manage his mental health.
Willen Hospice
The Captain Tom Foundation are proud to support Willen Hospice who support people affected by life-limiting illnesses in Milton Keynes and the surrounding communities.
Lorraine and Mark
My name is Lorraine. In June this year my husband Mark died peacefully at Willen Hospice, where he felt so calm and loved. He was only 49.
I hope you can take a few minutes to read our story and understand why Willen is so special to me and our three children, Sam, Grace and Emma.
Mark was a real family man. He was my best friend. He loved chilling out with us, going for walks with our dog, cycling and running with me. He was really into music and was an avid vinyl collector. He was a loving, gentle person and everyone liked him. This year would’ve been our 25th wedding anniversary - it was going to be our year.
At the end of 2017 we received the devastating news that Mark had cancer in his neck and kidneys. He was given a year to live. As you can imagine, he underwent surgery and tried all sorts of treatment but it was without success. In the end Mark chose to cope with it through pain relief. That’s when Willen Hospice stepped in with their amazing support.
Georgia and Jim
My name is Georgia Richardson and I would like to share my story with you. Two years ago I had never visited a hospice; I was scared of these places, I thought they were morbid and sad… but now Willen Hospice has become my safe place, my sanctuary, and a place filled with love and memories. On 19 December 2018, my Dad - Jim Richardson, sadly lost his battle with cancer and passed away at Willen Hospice, surrounded by love from his family and all of the wonderful nurses who had looked after him.
My Dad was first diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in December 2014, right before Christmas. At this point we had no idea how long he would have to live; would this be our last family Christmas? We were overwhelmed with emotion…
Christmas is meant to be family time, filled with happiness and laughter, but that year it was filled with worry and sadness. Happy family Christmas adverts felt physically painful, leaving us wondering if next year our family wouldn’t be complete.
Nikki and Darren
Darren was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the beginning of November 2015. He was 44, a mechanic, and just loved life. This news changed everything, he rapidly deteriorated and was given surgery. This wasn’t a success, he was leaking internally where the tumour was removed and rushed back to theatre suffering from Sepsis. When he awoke he was in intensive care and surrounded by machinery and drips, a very scary place. He recovered from this and came home to convalesce. We were delighted when in April he got the all clear, a week later the prognosis had rapidly changed, after another scan the sickening news was delivered that he had eight weeks to live.
Helen & Douglas House
The Captain Tom Foundation are proud to support Helen & Douglas House, a hospice that improves the lives of terminally ill children and their families, by providing one-to-one supportive stays and end-of-life care at their hospice in Oxford and at home.
The priority at Helen & Douglas House during the pandemic has been to keep their children, families, staff and volunteers safe and ensure they provide the type of care the families need at this difficult time.
It has been a really tough time for families cared for by the hospice because many of them have been shielding and they have felt quite alone and isolated because they have not had their normal support from carers or family members so many of them are exhausted.
Becky Davis, Specialist Nurse at Helen & Douglas House, said ‘It has also been a worrying time where families need reassurance and support from Helen & Douglas House to try and keep their children safe, pain free and out of hospital. This vital care and support have been needed more than ever during this pandemic ensuring our children and their families have access to specialised care in their preferred place which has been increasingly at home during the pandemic.
‘Our hospice in Oxford has remained open for children to come and stay for emergency symptom management and short supportive stays because their parents are exhausted with the 24/7 care they have had to provide their children during the pandemic, and end-of-life care.
‘Our community nurse specialists like myself and our doctors have been offering much more support to families at home through visits, phone, video calls and email. We have also been providing support to bereaved families via Zoom rather than face-to-face.
Aahil Hussain with Francesca Lennon and Dr Emily
Dr Emily with Rayyan at the hospice in Oxford during his stay
‘We need to raise £3.6 million a year to provide vital support to terminally ill children and their families with 85% of this coming from our amazing supporters through donations, fundraising or legacies. We are so grateful for being selected as one of the Captain Tom Foundation charities. Money raised by the foundation will help us to provide a vital lifeline of care to families like Rayyan’s and Aahil’s during the pandemic and beyond.”
Nadia Slatch, Rayyan’s Mum said ‘Helen & Douglas House has been wonderful during lockdown providing 24-hour help over the phone and acute symptom management during difficult times which has helped us immensely, while avoiding admission into hospital.
‘The Helen & Douglas House outreach team were equally reassuring when needing advice. Not only did they provide symptom care, but we also were hand delivered lovely hamper boxes which made a huge difference when we were shielding and needed basic supplies. I am always grateful, but the pandemic proved that Helen & Douglas House were always there for us.’
Rizwana Hussain, Aahil’s mum said ‘Lockdown has been very hard and challenging time for us as a family especially with Aahil’s symptom management and I am very grateful for Doctor Emily coming out to see us at this difficult and frightening time. With Dr Emily coming out has meant we can keep Aahil safe at home.’
The Royal British Legion
The Captain Tom Foundation are proud to support the Royal British Legion who are the nation’s biggest Armed Forces charity providing lifelong help and support to serving and ex Service personnel and their families.
Chris Dodd
Finding purpose in life after living such a structured life in the Army was difficult for Chris. As he tried to adjust to his new life Chris’ mental health was affected.
“I had mental health issues, nothing to do with the Army in terms of service and what I've seen and done. But because I couldn’t can't get my head around the fact that I wasn’t doing it anymore and I didn't want to be there [on civvy street]. It took me seven years to probably get my head round it.
It can be incredibly difficult to reach out for support.
Accepting that I needed help in the first place was the hardest thing. It was actually having an episode with my fiancée and her realising ‘actually something's not quite right here’ and her taking a step on my behalf to say, ‘I found you some help’, that made me go and do it.”
Matt Wightman
In 2015 Matt was diagnosed with PTSD linked from his experiences during service. Following his diagnosis Matt discovered the Legion’s Bravo 22 arts programme which helps the Armed Forces community transition into civilian life.
“The best thing was having people actually believe in you. Because your self-belief and self-esteem go down when you're feeling lonely and everything becomes a bit of a drag. But, for me, doing the drama thing and having said yes to that it was brilliant because you do something, and somebody would say ‘that was really good'. Having other people believing in you fuels your own self-belief, which is a great thing. It's given me the confidence to say yes to things. And to actually go out and tell people ‘look it's alright to be how you are. You're not weird if you're lonely or depressed. Just talk about it. There's always somebody at the end of the phone or somebody that you can talk to.”
Terry Barnett
Terry previously served in the Army within the Royal Corps of Signals for almost five years, leaving service in 1992. However, after a successful civvy career in telecommunications for 17 years, Terry’s dependence on alcohol began to grow and his addiction began to take over in later years, resulting in Terry becoming trapped mentally and physically by his addiction.
“If it wasn’t for the Royal British Legion, I don’t know where I would be today!
All the little things the Legion have supported with have made a big difference. They lifted the pressures and worries I had off my shoulders and this allowed me to begin to address my addiction and seek the help I needed without having to worry about keeping a roof over my head or seeking work.”