Me and my Soldier

I witnessed a moment, a special moment between my soldier and my Little Trooper earlier in the summer;

It was such a spontaneous, heart felt moment I wanted to capture it without them knowing and preserve it forever.

Children of soldiers' face unique challenges on a daily basis but they are so very proud. I know my child holds her daddy in her heart, has a sad face when he leaves and beams when he arrives home, it truly melts me every time I witness their closeness.

We knew many other Little Troopers across the world would be capturing special moments with their soldiers and we knew these would be perfect to bring together in a calendar. An amazing way to celebrate British Army soldiers and their children!

'Me and my Soldier' was launched across the world in a quest to get as many special photos or drawings of Little Troopers and their soldiers sent into us at My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures, the competition closes on 28th September 2012 when the 12 chosen entries will be announced. Prizes also to be won for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

The 2013 calenders will go straight into print and go on general sale mid October and can be pre ordered via our online shop: Pre Order 2013 Little Trooper Calendar here

With every entry that comes into competition@mydaddyisasoldieradventures.org we shed a tear and we feel honoured you are sharing these precious moments with us, judging will be so hard but for now keep those entries coming in and know that this really will be a calendar like no other to cherish and we will all be privileged to see a glimpse into the amazing bond between a Little Trooper and their soldier.

Little Troopers....very special children

A Little Trooper is a child of a serving British Army soldier, doesn't matter how old they are they will always be a Little Trooper! Over the last year we have met lots and lots of Little Troopers, in fact we have run events for over 1,000 already since December 2011.
They are the reason My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures exists and they are the reason we have spent so many great days running various events across the country this year.

Children of soldiers' are special, they are resilient and strong but they also face unique challenges on a daily basis often being separated from a parent when they are sent away from the family home on duty for long periods of time.

After events Little Troopers come and thank us for running the event when really we should be thanking them, for being such joys to work with and such a rewarding group of children. They clearly get so much from being in the company of other British Army children where there is an unspoken understanding that all in the room 'get it' and they are, for that day, distracted from their current situation which maybe that they haven't spoken to Mummy or Daddy for a couple of weeks.

We were sent a letter recently a Little Trooper sent to his Mums workplace, we cried tears that the charity and events had obviously made and impact and we want to share his words:

My name is XXXXX and I am 12.  My mum works for XXXXXX and has done for a long time. 

I am writing to you for help in donating to My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures which is a charity that has helped me and my sister a lot and I want to help them back.  My dad is a soldier and is away a lot, he is away now and has been for 6 months.   My daddy is a soldier was set up by 2 army mums who organise fun days and weekends for military children whilst their mum or dad is away.  I have been on lots since my dad went away, I got to go to their xmas party in London and Harrods gave us a xmas present, I had football training with Chelsea Football Club and learnt to make pasta with Jamie Oliver but what means more to me is I got to meet and make new friends.

Making new friends is the most important to me as I can share how I feel because I know they are missing their dads too.  We help each other because I know when I am sad it makes my mum sad too and I know my mum really misses my dad when he is away.

My dad is going to Afghan at xmas and I really really hope we can raise lots of money for them so I can continue to meet lots of new friends.

Thank you for reading this letter and I hope you can help?

THANK YOU to all the Little Troopers for the smiles we witness, the laughs we see and the strong children you are and continue to be.

To close this blogpost we wanted to share the poem of the Military Child:

The official flower of the Military child is the Dandelion. Why?

The plant puts down roots almost anywhere, and it's almost impossible to destroy. It's an unpretentious plant, yet good looking.

It's a survivor in a broad range of climates.

Military children bloom everywhere the winds carry them. They are hardy and upright. Their roots are strong, cultivated deeply in the culture of the military,...... planted swiftly and surely. They're ready to fly in the breezes that take them to new adventures, new lands, and new friends

.

Military children are well-rounded, culturally aware, tolerant, and extremely resilient. Military children have learned from an early age that home is where their hearts are, that a good friend can be found in every corner of the world and in every color, and that education doesn't only come from school. They live history.

They learn that to survive means to adapt, that the door that closes one chapter of their life opens up to a new and exciting adventure full of new friends and new experiences.  

FOR THE LITTLE TROOPERS AT HOME

Sometimes you need to look back, not just forward

We have been riding the My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures wave for over a year now......and what a wave it has been!

So often when creating something you constantly look to the future, the next thing, the goal you are striving towards for that week/month but sometimes you need to stop. and remember, look back and absorb your achievements to date.

On Friday we had My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures first Gala Dinner, it was a night of new faces and sharing our visions and dreams and the support was amazing. So heartfelt.

We put together a presentation for the evening and we realised we have achieved SO much and we have achieved it together and because we truly believe in British Army children being strong and special.

Seeing our achievements on a big screen was an emotional moment for us, our events have made a difference even if its to just one child and a community is being born which is what we wanted.

One British Army...we want One Community.

Achievements

- Events run in 2011 (Christmas Party & LapLand UK)

- Reaching £5,000 of donations

- Getting to the required level to register with The Charity Commission

- Launch of website http://www.mydaddyisasoldieradventures.org/

- Launch of Online Shop

- Partnering with many external shop suppliers (all army wives/partners)

- Developing the Little Troopers Treasure communications package

- Having an event booked in the diary every month right up until August 2012!

- MEETING SO MANY OF YOU!

The above are just a few there's so many others that are so important to us and I won't lie it has been stressful and tears have been shed but its so worth it. We have witnessed so many smiles from Little Troopers and received so many emails from you and we are on this journey all together.

So lets keep achieving and keep growing this community...For the Little Troopers at Home xxx

Little Troopers Treasures initiative

Today we are announcing the launch of Little Troopers Treasures, a new initiative that will enable soldiers to record audio stories and DVDs and even personal letters for their children to listen to or watch in their absence.

We are so excited about this and we are lucky enough to have met and collaborated with a fantastic recording team! The initiative looks set to grow as we have so many ideas! We aim to be travelling around various regiments and garrisons with units deploying soon to ensure this service is offered to as many families as possible!

Having that voice that is so special to listen to every night before bed or that familiar face to watch every day on DVD will ensure the bond of parent/child is kept whilst the soldier is away from the family home.

The My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures community is growing daily and we want our support to match the needs of the British Army families out there, this is something people have told us is needed so we have done our best to create something bespoke to offer.

So... if you have a soldier going away soon or you know someone that does let us know and we will endeavour to arrange a recording day in the area, this really will be a keepsake to have forever and something our Little Troopers at Home really will treasure....

Same Difference brings some POP to Aldershot!

4th February 2012 and Sean and Sarah from Same Difference bought their Pop Academy to Aldershot for children of My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures. I'm not quite sure I've ever met nicer people, they were so accomodating and commited to running a days workshop for the children.

40 British Army children from Aldershot and surrounding areas came to the Pop Academy, Tesco donated the refreshments and Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre donated the workshop area, it was a fantastic day and great fun was had by all! Children sang, learnt dance routines and performance techniquies all taught personally by Same Difference.

I really wanted this post to be about was how far we have come, how many children we are managing to reach and the difference our events are now making. We always said if we put a smile on just one British Army childs face it would be an achievement and that we have definately achieved.

At the end of the Pop Academy the children put on a performance, I sat with tears in my eyes so proud of that group of children and so proud of the community we are creating.

I wanted to share the below comments we recieved:

"thank you for all your hard work with the pop academy, my 3 girls loved it so much..you do a great job so keep it up.xxxx"

"Thank you sooo much for such an amazing day yesterday x My little girl hasn't stopped talking about it x"

"many thanks again for a fab day, the boys had a great afternoon."

This particular quote captures it all and makes every second of our journey to date worthwhile:

"Fantastic day have not seen XXXXX that happy since his dad went away.. Thanks for arranging it you guys are doing something so truely wonderful, and we can't thank you enough"

To top if off we made front page news the week after!

So do continue to support My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures, 2012 is a fundamental year for us and we need all the help and support we can get, the journey only continues if you join us on it!

Remember its For the Little Troopers at Home....

It's not a competition

I felt compelled to write this post, maybe brave, maybe stupid but none the less I think I will feel better afterwards and that's what a blog is for right? for sharing and gaining opinion.


Our journey with My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures has been up and down, some joyous moments and some tough moments but the common thread through all is our reason for doing this.

We never set out to start a charity it was never an ambition or want of ours, we decided to do it in reaction to something not being available when we needed it. It was an answer to a problem and there was/is nothing else out there specifically for British Army children especially when they have a parent away, if there was we wouldn't have done it we would have used that resource. We don't want to duplicate anything.


The third sector is a new experience for both of us, the military third sector is something we've never entered before and it is almost a current trend to enter it and 'jump on the bandwagon' and wow we have learnt some lessons.

Where we thought it would be a cosy, huggy, welcoming arena we were shocked when this hasn't been our experience. Where we thought people would rush to help us and advise we were wrong.

The people and organisations we thought would be supportive are not, they seem defensive and threatened. We've met with many of them to share our ideas and more often then not I have come out crying, crushed that people see our cause as a dilution of the military third sector.


So we steam on and our grit and determination and experience keeps us going regardless.


British Army children DO face unique challenges and they DO live a different life to other children and we are so passionate that we want this recognised and those children supported. All of them.


Its not a competition there is room for all of us, everything we have achieved has been through cheekiness, hard work, asking and a having a cause that people want to support. We aren't diluting, we are offering something that didn't exist before and we want to bring together everything that does exist to British Army families so there is no duplication and people know everything that is currently available.


So we continue, every time we don't get an email response from an organisation we would hope we would, every time we get a 'we can't support your cause' response from people who you think we absolutely should and every time we receive a 'but do Army children REALLY face anything different to civilian children' reply it makes us stronger and more determined.


Its not a competition and there is no winner.

2012 kicks off For the Little Troopers at Home....

2nd January 2012 and My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures took some Little Troopers to Chelsea FC for the day! what a day it was....

The training ground of Chelsea FC in Cobham is a fab facility and the coaching staff were truly amazing, we were humbled that they had all volunteered to be involved in the day on a bank holiday too!

The children arrived and were split into four groups they then spent the morning learning and refining their football skills and playing some games, lunch came which was an rather loud time!! Seeing all the kids having such fun was so amazing they went back out after lunch and the Chelsea FC youth team came over and had a kick about with the children....something we hadn't arranged so was a great addition to the day!

The day came to a close and JonJo from the X Factor popped in to give the children their medals, all children were given a Chelsea FC goodie bag and a My Daddy is a Soldier Adventures goodie bag and ALL left with a huge smile!

I have a feeling all the children would have slept well that night and we definately had some little troopers with stiff legs the next day! They should all now be recieving in the post their tshirt as a memory of the day.

Another great day and we hope for many more in 2012, thanks again all for coming and supporting The Little Troopers at Home...we, you, us are making a difference.

Louise & Linda xx