Help the Hero's - Whole School Assembly

Mrs Bull was delighted to host our school assembly this week. Reeva, Head of the School Council, spoke to the pupils about how the council researched and presented a charity they would like the school to support, after which the pupils cast their votes. This year, two charities were selected, one of which was Help for Heroes.

This charity was presented by Casper in Year 3. He came to the front to explain why he had chosen it, sharing that Josh had become a close family friend and that he found him to be inspiring, kind and very funny.

We were all delighted to welcome Josh Boggi (pronounced “Bodge-ee”) to the hall. Josh joined the British Army when he was nearly 18, inspired to follow in his father’s footsteps. He completed three tours of Afghanistan. On New Year’s Eve 2010, while serving in Afghanistan, he sustained life-changing injuries after stepping on an IED (Improvised Explosive Device), or buried bomb. As a result of his injuries, he lost both legs and one arm.

It was a long road to recovery, but Josh never gave up. Help for Heroes supported him in rebuilding his life and helped him realise that he still had so much to live for, encouraging him to achieve incredible things.

Since his injury, Josh has cycled all the way across America using a hand bike, taken on many other challenges, and competed in the Invictus Games, a high-level international sporting competition for wounded veterans.

The pupils were extremely engaged throughout this inspiring assembly, and Josh was happy to answer their questions. Staff were proud of the thoughtful and perceptive questions the children asked, which Josh was pleased to respond to. He thanked everyone for donating money through our Movie Dress-Up Day fundraiser, explaining that by supporting Help for Heroes, we are helping veterans and their families rebuild their lives. The charity supports veterans to feel confident, stand tall and take on challenges they may never have thought possible.

We gave Josh a huge round of applause for his inspiring assembly and for being so open and informative. Members of the School Council were thrilled to have their photograph taken with him.