Heroes Welcome UK
Heroes Welcome UK Logo
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| Abbreviation | HWUK |
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| Formation | 2008 |
| Type | Community Partnership |
| Purpose | Encouraging communities to show support to members of the British Armed Forces servicemen and women |
| Headquarters | Scarborough, North Yorkshire |
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Region served
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United Kingdom |
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Official language
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English |
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National Co-ordinator
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John Senior (founder) |
| Website | www |
| Remarks | Freely adopted by local communities, Borough, District and County Councils. |
Heroes Welcome is a scheme designed to encourage British communities to demonstrate support to members of the Armed Forces. The concept involves the displaying of a Heroes Welcome Sticker, this can be by either private individuals, or business operators and simply indicates a special welcome to service personnel. Heroes Welcome is not a charity or discount scheme, the minimum offer is; "A Warm Welcome", participating members may choose to offer a small discount or additional service upgrade if they wish, but this is not mandatory to membership of the scheme.
The first Heroes Welcome scheme was launched in 2008 by the North Yorkshire resort town of Scarborough, it began as a simple reaction to the growing number of negative news reports regarding the poor treatment of service personnel by some in the community. The first posters were handmade by the staff of the Golden Grid Fish Restaurant and displayed with the help of the owner John Senior MBE TD, a retired Army Officer who had himself seen active service in Afghanistan during 2001/2002. The idea quickly found support amongst the Scarborough seafront business community and eventually came to the attention of the Town Mayor who requested that "Heroes Welcome in Scarborough" be formally adopted as good civic practice.
In May 2008 Scarborough became the first Heroes Welcome Town, ensuring that service personnel were offered a special warm welcome wherever the Heroes welcome logo was displayed. By June 2008 over 250 local businesses had joined up to the scheme, membership proved to be diverse ranging across political and socio economic boundaries, early members included the South Beach Donkey concession, New York Times best selling author the Reverend G.P Taylor and Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, home to the acclaimed British playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn . The Scarborough scheme also won the support of a number of senior military and political figures, being seen as a simple and appropriate method for a community to show its open support to those serving in the Armed Forces. In March 2009 the founder, John Senior was invited by the Ministry of Defence, (Armed Forces Day Team) to give a presentation to members of the National Association of Civic Officers in order that they might better appreciate the benefits of forming closer relationships with the Armed Forces community. At the conclusion of the presentation a number of Civic Officers approached Senior wishing to explore the possibilities of joining the Heroes Welcome Scheme, at that time there was no facility or provision for a wider regional membership within the existing scheme.
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Wikipedia