Hi everybody.

Just wanted to mention that in October I'm taking on the daunting challenge of Three Peaks In Three Days in support of Help For Heroes. That's Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in three days, all to raise money for this wonderful charity's work with injured armed services personnel.

If anyone would care to make a donation, no matter how small, please take a look at either my personal website for information, the blog and a link to the secure online donations page, or go directly to the Bmy Charity donations page from where all donations go directly into Help For Heroes' own account.

Please note this event is supported and endorsed by Brighton's best-selling crime novelist Peter James, Sky Sports presenter and former champion gymnast Suzanne Dando, and Nicky Campbell of BBC Radio 5 Live.

Also, for other ways to help out with awareness-raising or to get involved, email me at the address on my website homepage.

Thanks for your time.

[stephen-webber.webs.com]

suzanne dando, nicky campbell and peter james, wowser!

Ah yes, there's always one who has to take the proverbial. Not quite the death threats many of us receive when we try to do our best for a deserving cause, but it wouldn't be the same without mindless sarcasm. So, now that's out of the way..!

Oh believe me, the mindless sarcasm is only just beginning.


Now, where's the charity that supports windowcleaners who fall off ladders? That's an occupational hazard of a job that someone does of their own free will, too...

isn't prevention better than cure?

perhaps if the MoD properly equipped our 'boys' (and pursued a policy of carpet bombing the shit out of the populace of afghanistan) we wouldn't have to be exposed to yours and others bucket shaking at every fucking public place.

now, back to suzanne dando, didn't she get shot??

Same in every job, innit. If an employer asks me to do a job, they should give me the equipment I need.

But onthe other hand, if my job involved being shot at, I shouldn't moan when I get shot at. Especially if you're involved in shooting at other people in return.

are you suggesting that people join the armed forces of their own free will and quite happily kill and maim 'the enemy'?

perhaps it's cos we're not winning this conflict that numpties like slowstephen feel the need to go and enjoy themselves for three days, and ask us to foot the bill?

a better alternative would be for slowstephen to walk ahead of patrols/convoys, shaking his bucket..

i for one would donate a pound towards that



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was 2010:07:30:12:04:05 by U99.

Don't walk in front of the Americans, though. That's asking for trouble.

i just noticed, this character is your kin?

We wouldn't allow a Sun reader near our family!

stephen webber


well from his blog he's clearly an introspective self-obsessed wibbler


perhaps it's a family trait..

Give it a rest, it's a good cause.

Yeah, in the same way that a donation to that charity which helps smokers to quit is a good cause.

Do they really have a charity for that?

On the subjest of help the heroes, it is in my opinion just another frikkin new fad charity that everyone is trendily backing and it rather gets on my tits.

The Army Benevolent Fund, SSAFA, Poppy Appeal, Royal British Legion and many other organisations give money to wounded soldiers, not to mention the money they get from the MOD and the lifelong index-linked pensions they get, which is also passed to the soldier's partner in the event of their death.

My father was a Royal Marine from the age of 15 until he was 41, when he died one day after being mis-diagnosed up at the marine camp complaining of chest pains. Sent away with some indigestion medicine he was dead 4 hours later.

My mother was given £40,000 on the spot, a full military funeral paid for and my pa's pension, which currently pays her £1,500 a month.

On top of that the marines did a 'Sale Of Kit' which raised another £8,000 for our family, which is like an auction which all friends in the marines donate money for injured, or dead soldier's families.

Help the heroes is something born from wingeing military wives, who go on GMTV, or do interviews in the Sun newspaper slagging off the MOD for not giving them enough money when something goes wrong for someone in their family whilst serving their country. People in this country as a result have a very distorted view of what wounded, or killed soldier's and their families get by way of support and compensation.

There has always been a perfectly good system in place, both government funded and otherwise for people in these situations, so anyone who was wondering what on earth soldiers did before help the heroes please rest assured everyone got on just fine thanks.

*applause*


Mind you, don't get my started on the fucking poppy appeal.



Tell you what, love, here's a better idea. Get a job and support your kid yourself, yeah?

My problem with Help for Heroes is that it elevates those who get injured to a higher ‘heroic’ status than those that don’t. Surely the ability to avoid getting blown up is actually a desirable attribute for a soldier. Seems to me that it’s all about rewarding career failure ...

On a similar tip, children who have leukaemia / cancer / whatever are not ‘brave’ – they’re just unlucky

I have a similar problem with the whole concept of luck.

Someone I know was alone in her house a few weeks ago. She normally closes her bedroom door, but this time she didn't and heard the smoke alarm going off. She went to investigate and found her freezer ablaze in the utility room. Smoke damage throughout the house, requiring a nearly complete refurb. They'd only just moved back in after having a large extension built.

She was described to me as lucky.


My brother was riding his motorbike down the M1. A white van man cut him up and he came off, skidding across three lanes of heavy traffic and writing off his bike.

He was also described as lucky.




If that's luck, I don't want it.

I wasn't never on the M1 m'lud.

Yes, as for kiddiwinks with the cancers and the leukemia's or wotever are always being described as brave. Why?

If a kid with bowel cancer was dared to eat a box of chicken from cheeky chicken at the bottom of north street at 3am in the morning and did it (Why do people have to say 3am in the morning? I'm just doing that to be annoying) then that would be what I consider to be brave.

Or praps if a child with a brain tumour microwaved his head in aid of cancer research then he, or she should get a heart of gold from Esther Ranzens.

If not then they should just be in a hospice and shut up.

I'd say any kid who goes within 30 feet of Rantzen is pretty brave...