SendingtoSoldiers.com - Sending gifts and items to BFPO

Harry Lamin's letters become a First World War Blog

If you haven't yet done so, please do have a look at the excellent Harry Lamin Letters Blog

Private Harry Lamin served in the 9th Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment during the First World War. His letters, which were sent home to his worried family as he fought on the Western Front, have been turned into a blog by his grandson, IT teacher Bill Lamin.

The bulletins have been published in real time because he wanted to recreate the tension felt by families waiting to hear if their loved one had survived or died in battle. The blog has received a lot of excellent media coverage, including this piece in the Daily Mail here.

Christmas Crackers for BFPO - defused by bomb disposal experts!

The story is in full here. 

'Army bomb disposal experts have been called in to defuse Christmas crackers.

Hundreds of packages sent from family and friends to soldiers serving abroad have had to be "disabled" because regulations class the snap strip in crackers as an explosive.'




It sounds like the type of story which can enable everyone to  have a laugh at the military's expense.  But... is the RAF's regulation really that foolish?    A full list of the do's and dont's for items sent to BFPO has been posted before but Im happy to post it again here.  All this information is available on the BFPO website here.

Help for Heroes wristbands - available for UK and BFPO delivery

We have been asked to give a mention to The Sun/Help for Heroes campaign.  We are happy to do so.

You can visit the Help for Heroes website here.  You can also purchase your wristband from the dedicated Sun webpage here.  There is a minimum donation per wristband of £2 - plus 50p packaging.  Delivery can be to both UK & BFPO addresses. A small percentage of the donation covers production and processing costs, but the bulk goes towards this worthy charity.  If you want a snapshot of what the charity is about; please see the Appeal Mission Statement below:

"What is H4H all about? It’s about the blokes. It’s about Derri, a rugby player who has lost both his legs, it about Carl whose jaw is wired up so he has been drinking through a straw. It’s about Richard who was handed a mobile phone as he lay on the stretcher so he could say goodbye to his wife. It is about Ben, its about Steven and Andy and Mark, its about them all. They are just blokes but they are our blokes; they are our heroes. We want to help our heroes."

Bryn Parry
Appeal Chairman

Freepost to BFPO - now Canadian Forces follow suit.

An interesting story has reached us from The Canadian media:
"As of October 26^th, Canada Post will begin providing free delivery of letters and parcels from family and friends to Canadian troops deployed in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas. While the free parcel service will be for the holiday season only (ending January 11^th, 2008), letters will continue to be sent postage-free throughout 2008."

The full story is available here.