Forces charity founded by Teesdale veteran sets £1million fundraising target

A CHARITY set up by a Teesdale forces veteran has a £1million target in mind after marking a special summer of accolades and awards.

Sporting Force, founded by Butterknowle’s Tommy Lowther, was given the FSI Small Charity Big Impact award from a shortlist of 300 entrants last month.

The charity, which helps ex service personnel adjust to civilian life, was also crowned a Welfare Winner at the Garfield Weston Charity Awards in association with charity support group Pilot Light. Mr Lowther was delighted with the awards adding that the advice from mentors he’d received had served the charity well.

He said: “It’s given us confidence. Hopefully this next year we are going to be applying, I would hope, for in excess of £1million from funders.”

The armed forces veteran set up Sporting Force in 2015 after a breakdown cost him his job at Glaxo.

From helping a small handful of ex-service personnel, Sporting Force has grown to help dozens of veterans readjust through work placements in the sports industry – relieving both mental health problems and social isolation.

Mr Lowther recalled how it all began: “It got to the point where I could not leave the house. I was in a bad way. I was doing a bit of football scouting at the time for Middlesbrough. When I first started it was just something to keep me occupied.

“It’s just gone from strength to strength since then.”

Last year marked a breakthrough for the charity when it set up a relationship with Help For Heroes.

“Help For Heroes found us and we’ve set up a great strategic partnership,” added Mr Lowther.

“It’s gone really well – it gave us £85,000 in the first year and £115,000 this year.

“It’s given us the freedom to not have to go out and look for other funding.”

The Weston award also saw £6,500 of funding awarded alongside a promise of meetings with mentors and the charity. Mr Lowther said the format of the award had been a great help. He added: “We are a new charity and the growth in the past year has been phenomenal. It has changed from me alone in my dining room working on the table to a team of three working full time – we have helped 195 veterans in the last year.

Partnerships between the charity and football clubs have also flourished with clubs such as Sheffield United, Derby County as well as other Premier League sides getting involved.