Wiltshire's Help for Heroes founder Bryn Parry CBE dies
Tributes have been led by Prince William and Prince Harry
Last updated 14th Apr 2023
Prince William and Prince Harry have led tributes to Help for Heroes co-founder Bryn Parry CBE from Downton, who has died aged 67 after a battle with cancer.
Bryn set up the charity in 2007 with his wife Emma, which has gone on to help more than 27,000 veterans and their families.
Mr Parry had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and was honoured with a CBE for charitable services to military veterans earlier this year.
Help for Heroes posted a statement of his passing on their website, saying:
“Those who knew and worked with Bryn saw at his core an incredibly kind, earnest, and passionate soul, whose energy was contagious. Supported, encouraged and advised by Emma, he was unstinting in his total, unwavering commitment to making the lot of the wounded servicemen and women as good as it could be.
Bryn’s founding principles and his no-nonsense approach of doing everything humanly possible to help our heroes, remain at the heart of all we do.”
We spoke to charity worker Mark Elliott, who was part of the group of volunteers who helped Mr Parry set up Help for Heroes in 2007.
"He really ripped up the book," said Mark, "He changed many lives for thousands of service men and women and their families.
"The legacy is seeing those young men, who will very seriously injured now living what I call normal lives, with children, with families, with jobs, that was never going to happen to these young men.
"His legacy is that he changed lives and in many cases he saved lives."
Tributes have also been coming in on social media - led by Prince William and Prince Harry.
In a tweet, the Prince of Wales described Mr Parry as a “life-affirming, inspirational man”, while the Duke of Sussex said he “completely transformed” how charities support war veterans in a statement with the Invictus Games Foundation.
MP for Salisbury John Glen also tweeted, saying Mr Parry had made an “enormous difference” to the lives of many veterans, while the Royal British Legion said he had made a "remarkable contribution to the military community and charity sector".