DDMT announces £10,000 sponsorship of Fisher House room
In July 2016, The Trustees of the Lt Dougie Dalzell MC Memorial Trust (DDMT) officially launched their £10,000 sponsorship of a room in Fisher House.
The House is QEHB Charity’s ‘home away from home’ for families of military patients to stay at whilst their loved ones receive treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, which is also home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.
The Lt Dougie Dalzell MC Memorial Trust will donate £10,000 to Fisher House to sponsor one of the building’s 18 bedrooms for an entire year, and have decided to name the room they are sponsoring ‘Thurlestone’.
DDMT was established in 2011 by the friends and family of Lieutenant Dougie Dalzell MC who lost his life in Afghanistan in 2010. Dougie died as a result of an IED explosion in the Babaji area of Nahr-e-Saraj in central Helmand during an operation to clear insurgents so that a checkpoint could be built and a road laid through the area. Developments such as these have brought enduring security and freedom of movement to the local Afghan people.
Now, in Dougie’s name, DDMT aims to improve the quality of life for soldiers throughout the British Armed Forces, by promoting the health and circumstance of servicepeople and veterans, supporting dependants and awarding grants to military charities such as Fisher House. The Trust decided to name the room they are sponsoring the Thurlestone Room, after a village in Devon, where Dougie spent many happy holidays with his family.
Tricia Morris, Trust Secretary at DDMT, said: “The Trustees of the Lt Dougie Dalzell MC Memorial Trust were impressed to learn of the work and care that takes place at Fisher House and are absolutely delighted to support this welcoming ‘home away from home’ for military patients and their families.”
Justine Davy, Head of Fundraising at QEHB Charity, said: “DDMT’s support of Fisher House really is invaluable. Fisher House is a five-minute walk from the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and offers support and a place to stay to a range of people, including those still actively serving in the British Army, veterans, and the families of injured and ill military personnel. Generous donations like this one enable us to keep on providing that safe haven for families going through an incredibly stressful ordeal.”
More than 2,000 people have stayed at Fisher House since it opened in 2013, totalling the equivalent of 11,000 nights of accommodation and saving its beneficiaries an estimated £1,000,000. To read more please go to fisherhouseuk.org
