Ipswich based veterans’ charity Wounded Heroes Australia celebrated two significant milestones on Thursday 11 May. The first being 16 years providing 24/7 crisis support to veterans and families Australia wide, the second, the official opening of their main headquarters and Veterans Centre located at Bundamba.
Official proceedings included an acknowledgement of country by Uncle Les Beckett, speeches by Chairman and Founder – Jim Shapcott, Vice President – Julie Hall, Crisis Support Manager – Miranda Geldert, unveiling of the plaque by President – Martin Shaw and Lieutenant General Greg Bilton AO, CSC – Chief of Joint Operations as well as ceremonial cutting of the cake with volunteer David Lane.
Wounded Heroes Australia President - Martin Shaw states “Our Veterans Centre pro-vides an opportunity for members of the community, current and ex-serving ADF per-sonnel to connect with one another and to create a sense of belonging. We’re ex-tremely proud to celebrate 16 years changing lives for the better and our Veterans Centre forms a critical part in providing that continued connection and support.”
Founder and Chairman - Jim Shapcott established Wounded Heroes Australia (previ-ously known as the Deployed Soldiers Welfare Association) in 2007 after identifying a critical gap in immediate financial crisis support for veterans and families doing it tough.
“Thanks to Jim’s passion, Wounded Heroes Australia has grown to become the leading provider of 24/7 crisis support to prevent veteran suicide across Australia. As Jim always said, our veterans have sacrificed so much, it’s our mission to help them. Wounded He-roes Australia is proud to continue Jim’s legacy.” said Mr Shaw.
Wounded Heroes Australia currently has two Veterans Centres in South-East Queens-land. They also offer a four-day Horses 4 Heroes – Equine Healing Program based at Wacol with the charity eager to launch new programs and Veterans Centres across Aus-tralia is the coming years.
“We’d like to thank our staff, volunteers, sponsors, special guests and members of the community who attended this special commemorative event, we’re extremely thankful for your support.” Said Mr Shaw.
Wounded Heroes Australia is primarily donor funded, with 100% of public donations going to veterans and families in financial crisis. They rely heavily on the support of the community and sponsors to continue their work. There are plenty of ways to help in-cluding sponsorship, fundraising and volunteering at their Veterans Centres.
“We encourage the community to support the cause, pop into our Veterans Centre, grab a coffee and a bite at Jim’s Café or shop in our Op Shop. Every dollar you spend saves lives.” Said Mr Shaw.
For more information contact Wounded Heroes Australia – Veterans Centre Ipswich and Head Office (07) 3282 0451.
