They Fight

They Fight

There are tens of thousands of serving British troops including Gurkhas and Reserves, who sign an oath of allegiance to protect Her Majesty, Her Government and Her Citizens at all cost, they are doing it now.

They Fall

They Fall

Our Nation has lost hundreds of serving personnel in recent years and many more have lost limbs and have suffered traumatic stress caused by the hostile combats they are fighting in.

We Carry On

We Carry On

We carry on with our lives freely walking the streets knowing we are safe from harm. This freedom is bought by our combatants who risk their lives and limbs daily.

But can they?

But can they?

For them to build a new life with the burden of traumatic stress and a limb or limbs missing is a demoralising and lonely journey.

Who looks after them?

Who looks after them?

We Do!

We at SWS RnR start them on that journey. We are a registered Charity that provides this invaluable service entirely from public contributions.

PLEASE GIVE A LITTLE BECAUSE THESE SOLDIERS HAVE GIVEN EVERYTHING.

Welcome

Welcome to the SWS RnR website. Please explore the site to find out ways in which you can help and visit our news page to see what has been happening.

SWS RnR is a charity which provides much needed and appreciated holidays in Dumfries and Galloway for injured soldiers who have seen active service. In addition, we run two training programmes to help get ex-servicemen through the theory test to enable them to start driver training for heavy goods vehicles. We also provide training to get the SIA qualification which is needed to be employed in the security industry. 


SWSrNR £1000 FUEL VOUCHER DRAW.

This can be redeemed at any of the 4 locations (noted below) across Dumfries and Galloway for Fuel or goods. Tickets are £5 and the profits from this draw will pay for One Veteran to get trained as an HGV Driver.

Draw will be made at Starbucks in Dumfries on 01/10/2024 at 10.00.

Terms and conditions:

SWSRNR Charity £1000 fuel voucher Prize. 

  • There will be 500 tickets which are £5.00 each.
  • The winner will receive £1000 of vouchers which may be used to purchase fuel or goods at any of the 4 locations listed below.
  • The vouchers may not be exchanged for cash.
  • The voucher must be produced at the garage to redeem fuel or goods.
  • The vouchers come in £10 denominations and no change will be given on purchases. 
  • The winner must produce the winning ticket before the vouchers will be issued. 

 

St John’s Town Services 4 Ayr Road St John’s Town of Dalry Castle Douglas.
DG7 3SW

St Michael's Services 9 St.Michael Street Dumfries
DG1 2QD

Wigtown Road Services Wigtown Road
NEWTON STEWART DG8 6JZ

Benmar Services, Station Road,
DG10 9EL

 


A huge Thank you to The Veterans Foundation

Almost all public donations received go directly towards helping our veterans back into work. This is made possible by the continued support from The Veterans Foundation. In addition to covering my salary, we’ve also secured funding for 15 new places which are entirely free to any ex-service personnel.

 


 

Plant Sale - 2024

Show your support - Buy a plant and help a veteran for one hour. Every £2.50 we receive pays for an hour of training to get an ex-soldier into full-time work.

You can find the plant stand at Midsteeple, Dumfries.


 

A makeover for Jock

Jock was showing some wear and tear after travelling thousands of miles across the UK so has been given a clean-up by boss Robin Hood. Robin has raised thousands of pounds for the charity by pulling Jock across the UK. But all those miles and the weather had taken their toll, so Robin decided to give him a clean-up at his home near Mossdale.

Read the article here 

 


Walk to Birmingham June 2021

Walk to Birmingham June 2021 Walk to Birmingham June 2021  Walk to Birmingham June 2021 Walk to Birmingham June 2021


SWSRnR IS PROUD TO BE WORKING WITH FIRST MILITARY RECRUITMENT 


Great support from customers at Aldi stores in Dumfries & Galloway.

A big thank you to everyone who donated, we raised an astounding £1000 over 2 weekends at Aldi Stores in Dumfries and Galloway.

PLEASE NOTE: Robin's salary is paid for by the Veterans Foundation, enabling the majority of public donations to go directly to supporting our cause. 


Information on Veterans who have lost limbs or have facial injuries.

A message from Victoria Williams:

I’m a researcher from the Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England. We’re conducting a study to understand how looking different might be difficult for military veterans who have scars or limb loss because of injuries from deployments or deployment training. By learning what might be difficult, we plan to make new psychological support services for veterans with these kinds of injuries. Our research is part of the Centre for Conflict Wound Research funded by the Scar Free Foundation https://www.conflictwoundresearch.org.uk/projects/identifying-effective-psychological-interventions/.

As part of our project, we’re conducting a questionnaire-based study. The questionnaire can be completed online (https://go.uwe.ac.uk/unitsveteran) and we are hoping to reach 200 injured veterans to take part and complete it.

Each person who takes part can choose to be entered into a prize draw to win up to £100 in Amazon vouchers (prizes: 1 x £100, 4 x £50, 8 x £25) or a donation to a charity of their choice.

This is a link to our promotional video for the questionnaire: https://youtu.be/xCcajxWb8lA 


Robin Hood is pulling 'Jock2' 340 miles in 26 days, from John O'Groats to Dumfries

The 63-year-old, who set up the Dumfries-based charity South West Scotland RnR to train ex-servicemen to become lorry drivers, said: “I’m a few days down and although I’m exhausted, the support on the road has been absolutely incredible.

“Everybody has been so generous –we collected a few hundred in the torrential rain yesterday.

“I was completely battered by the rain but it’s amazing how a cheer or toot of the horn can keep you going.

“Both of my uniforms were soaked through – so I had to find a laundrette and make do with a tracksuit.”

The real-life action man ended up being hospitalised after making a similar journey last year from Dumfries to London to mark the Cenotaph – tugging along a lighter sculpture of a Scottish squaddie called Jock weighing in at 20 stone.

Robin, of Mossdale, Castle Douglas said: “The caravan I slept in last year just wasn’t up to standard and I ended up spending a night in hospital with hypothermia.

“I was in a really bad way, but managed to get back on the road eventually.

“I learned some tough lessons so I’m much better equipped for this year’s challenge – I actually have heating to help me recover at the end of each day.”

We told earlier this year how Robin applied for a government grant for the new project after reading about trucker shortages in Scotland - and was delighted to be awarded £130,500 to change the lives of jobless veterans.

And since then he’s helped 36 former soldiers with everything they need to become an HGV driver, earning between £23,000 and £37,000.

Robin said: “I am so proud of what our charity has achieved so far.

“We’ve helped 36 ex-squaddies get a job – that’s around £500,000 back into income tax as they aren’t claiming benefits – and they are delivering the nation’s goods.

“There are no losers here and we cannot wait to help more of our heroes.”

Article source:
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/fabulous/4699493/scotland-veterans-soldier-charity/

 

 



The Libor grant of £130500 to help veterans get an HGV driving licence at no cost to themselves.

This is open to all veterans throughout the Nation and accommodation can be provided.

To apply please register with Name, address. DOB service number, enlistment date and demob date.

SWSRnR will then guide you step by step commencing with a medical and Driving licence application pack.

We then prepare you for the Theory test which can be done in as little as 7 days.

Once passed, we then pay for you to start the Driver Training at Nithcree here in Dumfries.

This training takes 7 days and we pay for your test and vehicle hire on the day of your test.

Do not worry if you fail the first time a resit policy is available.


Robin Hood to pull 20 stone soldier statue to Cenotaph

An eight foot tall, 20-stone statue of a soldier is to feature in commemorations to mark the centenary of the end of World War One in London. And helping him get there will be Robin Hood.

The Mossdale man is the boss of forces’ charity Southwest Scotland RNR, at Carsethorn. To raise cash for the charity he aims to tow Jock – the model of a Scottish squaddie that acts as the organisation’s mascot – by himself from Dumfries using a special trolley in time to be at the Cenotaph next year.

Robin said: “I’ll start from Dumfries – where the statue was carved – on October 1, 2018. The police won’t let me use the A1 so I’ll be on side roads. It’s a total of 400 miles.

“The trolley needs work but I’ve got a year. It needs brakes added as it’ll be fine uphill but I might get crushed going downhill.”

Robin and Jock will be involved in other commemorations before that. Wednesday marks 100 years since 2nd Lieutenant John Murray died in World War One.

His father, Rev George Murray, created a memorial to him at Mossdale so he could see it from his home across the loch.

Article source:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/dumfries-galloways-robin-hood-pull-10992801