The 501st Legion and its Garrisons are "zero profit" entities who do not charge for their appearances but if the event is not directly for the benefit of a charity then we do ask for a donation that goes into a pot that is then split between the charities each Garrison supports. Each year the 501st Legion worldwide helps raise millions of dollars directly and indirectly for charities.
We have already distributed a portion of this £49,000 to some of our good causes:
Katherine and Jamie Staples set up the Harley Staples Cancer Trust in memory of their son Harley who passed away aged just 8 from a rare form of Leukemia. The Trust is raising money to build a 'Happy Harley Holiday Home' for respite breaks for other sick children and their families. Each year the UKG attend a charity music festival called 'Glastonblaby" which takes place in Blaby, Leicestershire to raise funds for the Trust. It was here, last July, that we presented a cheque for £5,000 to Harley's parents.
Also in July 2012 the UKG was invited to visit Tedworth House, the Help for Heroes flagship Personnel Recovery Centre whose purpose is to inspire wounded, sick and returning veterans to lead active independent and fulfilling lives, enabling them to reach their full potential. After meeting some of the residents and feeling very humbled and moved by what we saw at Tedworth House, we presented H4H with a cheque for £10,000.
In April 2013 the UKG was privileged to be invited to visit the Defense Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court for a Star Wars themed day. Headley Court is the armed forces premier rehabilitation facility treating the most complex of combat casualty cases. One of the charities that the UKG support is MediCinema who install and manage permanent state-of-the-art cinemas in hospitals and places of care, which then show the latest movie releases. One of these cinemas has been installed at Headley Court. On this troop the UKG presented MediCinema with a cheque for £2,500. £500 will go directly to MediCinema and £2,000 will go to MediCinema based activities at Headley Court to directly benefit the residents being treated there.
Related information:
Written by: Ginny Tait, UK Garrison PR Officer.
