Sgt Slingsby volunteered to spend three weeks with the team at Samuel Brothers (St Paul's) Ltd, the Bespoke Military Tailors based within the Regimental Headquarters, The Royal Logistic Corps, at Deepcut [in Darkest Surrey].
Slingsby was made to feel very much at home, before rolling his sleeves up and being introduced to some basic tailoring skills and interaction with his colleagues (customers).The first objective was to sort his beret out! A sharp lesson of ‘shrink & shape' made for a far smarter Slingsby, who thus sets the standards for his fellow Bears. Slingsby made the ‘rounds' visiting the staff in Harwich who fussed over him, although I gather he did pick up some useful ‘tips'. Sadly our planned trip to the Factory in Leeds was cancelled due to adverse weather, although some ‘greetings' were despatched and arrived the next morning.
Slingsby was invited the Aldershot Branch of the RASC/RCT Annual Christmas Dinner Dance which he excitedly accepted. Our thanks go to Lt Col Mike Graham and his team for hosting Sgt Slingsby for the weekend.
The main objective was for Slingsby to join us at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , to assist in our final fittings and inspections prior to the Officer Cadets commissioning prior to Christmas. This is a hectic period for the Officer Cadets (and us) but Slingsby held his own, and enjoyed the experience. A great opportunity for raising the profile of Holidays for Heroes. This is what Sgt Slingsby does best and did the cause proud.
After the final uniform inspections it was back to the office and workroom to see customers, and sew the occasional beret badge on, etc. Slingsby was next invited to the traditional Christmas ‘Sgt's to Officers' upon the personal invite of the Royal Logistic Corps Regimental Sergeant Major, WO1 (RSM) Jason Lowe. I am confident that Slingsby ‘pulled up a sandbag' and chatted about his recent Op Herrick tour over a beer or two with Mess Members; but arrived the next morning with no hangover and two full buckets of donations!
The next venture was with the RLC Corps Band who invited Slingsby to their Annual Christmas Charity Concerts for which Slingsby attended the final two performances. My thanks go to the Director of Music Major Phil Stredwick for his support, again raising awareness and much needed funds. Slingsby really enjoyed himself at the concerts and was spotted on the Saturday night eating mince pies and sipping Glühwein with the Chelsea Pensioners.
Slingsby was ‘posted' back to HQ Bears in time for Christmas, with just over £500 raised towards some 50 cases that are already earmarked for 2010. Our sincere thanks to all involved, both the staff at Samuel Brothers (St Paul's) Ltd and especially our colleagues at Deepcut who were very supportive.
[Ed: Massive thanks to all the Bearers at Samuel Bros, the guys and gals at RMAS, and of course the RLC. A great result for holidays4heroes.]
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Holidays 4 Heroes is an informal group of people that assists wounded service personnel and their families get a precious break from the routine of rehab, hospital appointments and visits to welfare offices by facilitating holidays away from it all in accommodation donated by our sponsors in the UK and abroad. 
Deals with the cases that either lie outside the normal remit of the main Service Charities, or require a faster response than they can usually provide. Sometimes the cases require financial assistance, a little bit of nudging in the right direction for long-term help, or the application of a bit of expertise.