Nine years of giving

Today we celebrate ‘Giving Tuesday’ - a movement that ‘unleashes the power of people and organisations to transform their communities and give in any way they can'. For Thea Pharmaceutical, every day is a giving day.

Over the last nine years, the team at Thea Pharmaceuticals have found many ways to support our veterans - transforming the lives for those involved with both organisations – showing that there are so many ways you could choose to give on Giving Tuesday.

Raising funds and awareness

Thea Pharmaceuticals, who specialise in products that support eye health, have been supporting our blind veterans for the last nine years. Their fundraising effort, volunteering and support has continued throughout 2024.

The total amount raised by Thea Pharmaceuticals since 2015 now stands at £63,000. Their ongoing support enables us to deliver life-changing support to veterans including funding equipment, rehabilitation and stays at our centres.

Fundraising

The team at Thea take part in a multitude of fundraising activities, with employees given the opportunity to work and spend time together on activities such as bike rides and bake sales, share their passions via activities such as football competition sweep stakes and even donkey walking! There are opportunities for all team members to get involved no matter how much time they have to spare – from participating in raffles to training and participating in iconic challenge events such as the London to Brighton Cycle, Great North Run and London Marathon.

In 2024, Team Thea’s London Marathon Team consisted of six runners using charity event places to achieve their personal goals while working together to support our veterans.

Team member Stephanie had already completed the challenge in 2022 and 2023 but she was spurred on in 2024 by a chance encounter with 87-year-old blind veteran Mike, who ran in the first London Marathon in 1987, during a recent visit to our Llandudno Centre. Mike said:

“I ran in nine London Marathons between 1981 and 1989. The first London Marathon was nothing like we see today, there were only 2,000 runners.

“When I spoke to Stephanie, I was envious of her as I loved to run, and I can’t do it anymore. Marathon running is addictive, I used to go out for a run everyday.

“I am so thankful to fundraisers like Stephanie, without people like her, us blind veterans wouldn’t have the opportunities we have.”

Championing our veterans

The relationship between ourselves and Thea is not all about fundraising:

Volunteering

The relationship between ourselves and Thea began when staff from Thea visited the Llandudno Centre back in 2015 to volunteer, they helped in the grounds and enjoyed potting and planting alongside the veterans.

Last year members from the team spent time at Llandudno again immersing themselves in centre life and finding out how we deliver rehabilitation and prioritise wellbeing and undertaking maintenance tasks in the grounds.

While at the centre, the group experienced sighted guide training, had a tour of the centre and its facilities and had an opportunity to hear the sight loss journey of one of our blind veterans.

Charity manager at Thea, Francesca said:

“Having the opportunity to visit the centre makes such an impact on the whole team. To hear from the veterans themselves and to see the facilities that our fundraising can help to provide spurs everyone on and makes us want to do more. We were all left humbled by the experience.”

Championing our cause

Thea also get involved in campaigns such as Gift a Wreath and Planning to Remember, raising awareness that is so important in terms of ensuring those in need of our support and those who would like to get involved know we are here.

In 2023 a team completed War Memorial Walks, one taking place in London where the team members proudly wore our branded t-shirts and laid a wreath at the memorial at Euston Train Station.

Gift a Wreath

Earlier this month Thea gifted wreaths for our blind veterans to lay during Remembrance, staff from Thea also laid their own wreaths in support of our blind veterans.

Matt was one of those staff members who laid a wreath and in the summer Matt also completed his own fundraising challenge running five kilometres a day for 32 days. He says:

“We had our company conference on 15 September so I thought why not run everyday in the lead up to it. My last run was on the day the conference began so I was able to head there and tell my work colleagues that I’d completed my challenge.

“I’ve visited the Blind Veterans UK’s centres in Llandudno and on the south coast and have had the pleasure of meeting the veterans they support and hearing their stories of the challenges they face and how the charity has helped them overcome these.

“I especially like the holiday element that the centres offer. I have experience of family members having care needs and how beneficial it is for both them and their families to have a break. It is the little things that jump out to me, the help offered to find new ways to complete daily tasks such as making a cup of tea. These little things have a big impact.”

Francesca is one of two Charity Managers at Thea who are pivotal in supporting colleagues in their fundraising.

Francesca laid a wreath this year and was joined by her two young sons. She says:

“I was very honoured to be laying a wreath this year on behalf of Blind Veterans UK and Thea. It makes it even more special to have done it with my children.

“The team at Thea, myself included, are so committed to our work with Blind Veterans, it's really inspirational to see. The activities we get involved with bring the team together.

“Having attended the centres on numerous occasions, receiving such a warm welcome from the veterans and staff and by really getting a good understanding of the work Blind Veterans UK does has made the Team at Thea even more committed to support them each year.”

For the past two years Team members and their family and friends have also knitted poppies which were used in our Llandudno Centre’s annual Poppy Display, exhibited as part of our Remembrance activities. 

Still to come

In a few days time, team members from Thea will be once again visiting our Llandudno Centre to deliver gifts to help fill the stockings of those who will be staying with us over Christmas.

There are also plans for a group of team members to take on a skydive to mark VE Day in May.

Victoria, from our Community Partnerships team, says:

"Our relationship with Thea has grown in strength and meaning since their very first visit in 2015. Their team members are always keen to hear how the funds they raise have made an impact and are eager to get involved in any way they can to support our veterans. We are privileged that an organisation that understands only too well the impact of sight loss has chosen to champion us."

Philip, a senior leader at Thea, instigated the relationship with our charity and joined the staff on a visit to Llandudno last year. He said:

“I come from a family with a military history, my father and grandfather both served and I attended naval college at HMS Conwy. One of my best friends from naval college served in the Falklands and sadly didn’t come home. Having had that to someone I was close to has certainly been part of my personal reason for wanting to give back and support such a fantastic military charity.”