We are hugely saddened to announce the tragic news that one of our most valuable and hardest working committee members, Nick Lucy, of Reach Marketing, passed away suddenly last Friday.

Nick has worked tirelessly and way beyond the call of duty for our cause and his consistently enthusiastic efforts on the behalf of Friends of The Tenth can account for our considerable attention by various media, social, TV, Radio and newspapers over the last year.

Our sincere condolences to his wife, Caroline and their families. He will be sorely missed.

RIP Nick – You were truly a great and dedicated friend of The Tenth.

FRIENDS Of The Tenth have achieved another important milestone in their mission to raise £75,000 for a commemorative sculpture . . . after being granted charitable status.

The group applied to the Charity Commission, the Regulator for Charities in England and Wales, to be legally registered in order to provide further impetus for their fund-raising activities.

That application has been successful, so Friends of the Tenth now has the registered charity number 1176669 which will be included on all its documentation and official correspondence.

With more than £17,000 already raised for the commemorative sculpture in honour of the 10th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, this latest development is a further boost.

Group Chairman Alec Wilson, one of three Charity Trustees, commented: “To be legally registered as a charity now is an official hallmark for what we are trying to achieve with this mission.

“One of the immediate doors which it opens is our capacity to apply to HMRC for Gift Aid. If we can obtain that, it will make a considerable difference to how much we can raise.”

He added: “As much as anything though, it shows we are complying to good practice and that will be reassuring to members of the public when considering whether to support us.

“We are accountable and trustworthy, while the group’s constitution has clearly defined objectives. These are all important criteria of being able to obtain this registered status.”

As well the Group’s Chairman, the other two nominated Charity Trustees are Tim Hall-Wilson and Madeline Gibbard, who is Friends of the Tenth Secretary.

FRIENDS OF The Tenth have hailed the “incredible generosity” of fund-raisers who have helped them to take a significant step towards their £75,000 target for a commemorative sculpture to honour the 10th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.

The appeal fund doubled to almost £15,000 within the space of a few days, largely due to a donation of £5,110 raised by the Pegasus Appreciation Group from an auction which was held among their members on Social Media during November.

In addition to that major boost, Friends of the Tenth also received further money from one of their major supporters, 10 Para, and £1,800 recently donated by Everards from proceeds of sales of a special guest beer, Myrtle, in September.

“Suddenly, that £75,000 target doesn’t seem quite as far away now, and that is due to the incredible generosity of people who have pledged their support to our cause,” commented Alec Wilson, Chairman of the Friends of the Tenth group.

“We can’t thank them enough, especially as we know so many of them are by no means finished yet with what they hope to raise for the appeal.”

“We are barely three months into our mission to raise this substantial amount, so we are delighted with the progress which has been made so far.

He added: “With people like Rich Greasley and Lee Crichton from Pegasus Appreciation Group and Terry Lowe from 10 Para on board, not to mention many others too who have given so much support, I know that we will achieve our aim.”

The Pegasus Appreciation Group chose Friends of the Tenth as their Charity of the Month for November when they held an online auction among the 2,400 members on their closed Facebook group which proved as popular as ever.

“The success of this latest Charity of the Month event means we have now raised over £70,000 from our auctions in 2017, which in itself will be encouraging to Friends of the Tenth as they aim to reach the £75,000 mark,” commented Greasley.

“It seemed quite appropriate for us to help this cause because many of our members have served in the 10th Battalion at some point or other over the years, and being local in Leicester, I was well aware of the launch of this particular appeal.”

He added: “We put together a selection of original, rare and limited-edition items for auction, and the support we got was absolutely tremendous.”

Friends of the Tenth have in turn shown their appreciation of the fund-raising undertaken by Terry Lowe which has led to the latest donation from 10 Para.

The group has already received proceeds from a 10 Para reunion weekend in October, while Lowe has added several donations from sales of items, including badges and t-shirts.

Now, they have presented a further £2,000 which had been held in the Croydon Parachute Regiment Association since it was raised by a Christmas function two years ago.

“Terry’s energy and enthusiasm for helping our cause is truly remarkable and we are indebted to both him and Colonel John Power for this latest donation,” said Wilson.

Pictured are (from left to right): Pat Fynn (Somerby Parish Council), Alec Wilson (Chairman of Friends of the Tenth), Rich Greasley (Pegasus Appreciation Group), Tim Hall-Wilson (Friends of the Tenth).

FRIENDS OF The Tenth have raised a glass to Everards after sales of a special guest beer led to them donating £1,800 to the fund-raising campaign.

Alec Wilson, the group’s Chairman, expressed his gratitude to the Leicester business for their support after receiving a cheque from Richard Everard at a special presentation made at The Forge Inn in Glenfield.

The theme of the limited-edition ale was Myrtle the Parachick, which proved to be extremely popular, not only in terms of sales of the beer itself, but also in helping to raise awareness of the campaign to raise £75,000.

In offering their support in the form of a partnership with Friends of the Tenth, Everards donated five pence from every pint of Myrtle sold in September, and the plan is for this to be repeated again in the same month of 2018.

Friends of the Tenth have now raised almost £8,000 in the first two months of the appeal after Everards made a donation on top of the proceeds from the sales as a ‘thank you’ for what has been a successful collaboration.

“This significant sum reflects the incredibly enthusiastic way Everards have pledged their support to the fund-raising,” said Wilson.

“The choice of Myrtle as the theme was certainly an inspired one and has created an incredible amount of interest.

“We would like to express our sincere thanks to Everards for their support and look forward to working with them for Myrtle’s return next year.”

Friends of the Tenth are raising money to erect a commemorative sculpture in Somerby to honour the 10th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment who were based in the Leicestershire village and surrounding areas before being dropped into the Battle of Arnhem.

The story of Myrtle is an important part of that association and it was decided that this would make an ideal theme for the guest beer.

Myrtle is a red ale which has been brewed with pilot and flyer hops and has aromas of fruit, treacle toffee and caramel.

To read about the story of Myrtle, go to https://friendsofthetenth.co.uk/myrtle-the-parachick/

Pictured Left to right: John Donovan, Richard Everard, Alec Wilson, Jack Gilbert, Taff Howells