Holidays for Heroes Jersey’s founders Dawn and Richard Woodhouse have confirmed that Richard Harwood – former chairman of fundraising at Jersey Hospice – will take over the day-to-day running of the charity next year.
The couple, who plan to retire from their voluntary roles in March 2020, had previously warned that Holidays for Heroes Jersey – which provides breaks in the Island for injured service personnel – might have had to close if a successor was not found.
‘We are thrilled to confirm Richard Harwood has agreed to be Holidays for Heroes Jersey’s new chairman,’ said Mr and Mrs Woodhouse, who founded the charity on 28 August 2008 at Government House.
‘Richard has great experience in the charity world but more importantly, his enthusiasm for the charity and his enthusiasm to take it forward has impressed us greatly. We will work with him until he takes over officially at our AGM in March next year.’
Mr Harwood (55), who has had a successful career in the finance industry, introduced the bi-annual Jersey Hospice Care charity cycle challenge in 2001 and created Hospice’s Million Pound Lottery in 2007.
He said he got in touch with Mr Woodhouse after reading the appeal for a successor in this newspaper.
‘I had taken part in Holidays for Heroes Jersey’s fundraiser, the Big Rideout, a couple of times, and when I saw the appeal in the paper I dropped Richard a line,’ explained Mr Harwood, who is managing director at wealth management firm MitonOptimal Jersey.
‘I told him: “What you and Dawn do is far too important to let it go and I’d love to help in some way.”
‘It’s an amazing organisation and the only reason I’m involved is because it can’t stop – for Jersey to lose this charity would be a travesty.’
Over the years, Holidays for Heroes Jersey has arranged breaks in the Island for more than 2,600 injured former members of the Armed Forces and their families.
Every guest, or hero as the Woodhouses like to refer to them, must be nominated by a serving welfare officer or a military charity, and each hero has injuries in mind or body attributable to their service.
‘We will start the handover at the end of the season once all the Heroes
have had time for a holiday,’ said Mr Harwood. ‘I’m going to take over some of the more administrative and management functions. We’ll hopefully achieve a relatively seamless transition.
‘But it’s important to emphasise that Richard and Dawn aren’t going anywhere – they are going to continue to be a massive force within Holidays for Heroes Jersey and part of the public face of the charity.’
Mr Woodhouse added: ‘Naturally we are very happy to continue as governors of the charity, and we will help and support Richard as he settles into the role.’
