Soldier charity aid requests rise

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An army charity is being relaunched to raise its profile after a 30% rise in requests for aid led by young soldiers.

The Army Benevolent Fund will be known as ABF The Soldiers' Charity under a new strategy to help injured soldiers.

The relaunch will be fronted by Kate Philp, 31, who lost her leg below the knee to a Taliban bomb in Afghanistan.

The charity, which was set up in 1944, aims to double its income to £14m a year in the next five years to meet the expected rise in demand for help.

Makeshift bomb

Most requests to the charity are for help with mobility in the home, an issue which used to be linked with the elderly but is increasingly relevant to young soldiers.

Most requests for help from soldiers relate to mobility in the home

Captain Philp, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, was in a Warrior armoured vehicle in 2008 when it was hit by a makeshift bomb, killing a colleague. She was the first female British officer to be badly injured in Afghanistan.

She said: "I was conscious throughout the whole thing - I remember a loud noise, a bit of a funny smell, some smoke."

She underwent emergency surgery at a field hospital in Helmand province before returning to the UK, where doctors from Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham gave her a devastating choice.

They said they could try to save her left leg, but she risked never being able to walk properly again, or she could lose it below the knee but remain active by using a prosthetic.

She said: "It was a no-brainer. To be able to not walk properly, or be able to run and ski and play tennis with a false leg. The questions about flip flops and high heels came later."

Captain Philp remains in the Army, now acting as an ambassador for the charity to raise awareness about its work among young people.

She hopes one day to return to Afghanistan on active service.