THOUSANDS of people have made their tea break really count by holding a Big Brew Up for Armed Forces charity SSAFA.
More than 800 Big Brew Ups took place around the country in June, with Prime Minister David Cameron stopping by for a cuppa at the Armed Forces Day event in Guildford and Coronation Street’s Antony Cotton hosting his own star-studded event in the Rovers Return.
Big Brew Up ambassador Antony was also one of the 30 celebrity names who signed and donated their favourite mugs to an online celebrity auction.
This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden, supermodel David Gandy, Poldark star Robin Ellis, singers Florence Welch and Katherine Jenkins and athlete Dame Kelly Holmes were among those who gave their favourite mugs.
SSAFA is expecting this year’s Big Brew Up to be the biggest yet. Money raised by the campaign will help fund the practical, emotional and financial support SSAFA gives to more than 57,000 members of our Armed Forces community every year.
At the heart of the campaign are the powerful, real-life tales that illustrate exactly what a difference SSAFA’s support can make.
Corporal Harvey Holmes was killed by an explosion whilst on patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2010. His mother Beverley Mayall and sister Elizabeth Holmes-Daniels are both members of SSAFA’s Bereaved Families Support Group.
Beverley said: “SSAFA reached out and gave our family genuine care and support when we needed it the most. Although the war has ended, the effects of Afghanistan are not over for many of us, and the Big Brew Up will help to ensure that SSAFA supports more Forces families like ours in their time of need.”
As a nation we drink no less than 60.2 billion cups of tea every year and the SSAFA Big Brew Up campaign encourages friends, family and colleagues to get together and share a cuppa to help raise funds for the charity’s vital work supporting serving personnel, veterans and their families.
To find out more, visit www.ssafa.org.uk or follow on Twitter @SSAFA