Our colleague Sash Hill served as a corporal in the Army in Afghanistan – and is now a passionate supporter of Help for Heroes and the work they do for injured servicemen and women.
He'll be joining volunteers Liz and John Baker to raise money for the charity at our Fulwood store in Preston this weekend – like colleagues at nearly 300 of our stores across the country.
Sash, who's worked at the store for three years, said: "I've had mates who have returned from combat in Afghanistan having lost limbs. Help for Heroes have helped them adjust when they returned home, and get their lives back on track. What they do is absolutely phenomenal.
"The work they do sometimes goes unnoticed, but they're a fantastic charity. Their support has been so crucial to so many people who I know."
Sash, who's 28, joined the Army at 18 and was in the Royal Dragoon Guards. He completed his first tour of Afghanistan in 2010 and, after training in Canada and Kenya, returned to Afghanistan in 2012.
He said: "I was involved in direct combat on the front line in Afghanistan. The first tour was terrible. We lived out of our wagons for six months as part of Operation Herrick. We suffered numerous casualties and fatalities.
"I spent my first tour of Afghanistan as lance corporal. When I did my second tour of Afghanistan I'd been promoted to corporal. After coming home I took what I thought would be one year out on civvy street.
"It was quite nerve-wracking at the start because I didn't know how transferable my skills were. I was looking at job opportunities and thinking 'I don't have any of these skills.' But my wife Zoe, who works at Asda head office in Leeds, helped me realise my skills were transferable.
"If a job needed project manager skills, I was worried I didn't have that skill set. But she'd remind me of the time I organised specialised training courses. Managing people is transferable too. Everyone in the Army is adaptable – they have to be.
"I really enjoyed working for Asda so I've stayed. The best things about working at Asda are the career opportunities, work life balance and Asda culture.
"I've been able to bring my strengths from the Army to Asda and get the best out of people. I’ve enjoyed moving through the ranks in Asda by using everything I learned in the military.”
General store manager Daniel Quartermain said: "Sash is a great colleague. He's very ambitious, very driven, organised, a great people person and it's great to have him with us."
Claire McHenry, national campaigns manager for Help for Heroes, said: "We would like to say a huge thank you to Asda for giving us the opportunity to fundraise in their stores. We have volunteers in nearly 300 stores nationwide in what will be our eighth national collection at Asda.
"Today, seven people will be medically discharged from the Armed Forces and their lives will change forever. In an instant, these highly-trained individuals will lose the camaraderie, purpose and career which has been their life.
"The support from Asda has been amazing; it has and will continue to make a massive difference to the lives of our nation's heroes. "
