The British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association (BLESMA)
Scooterists have a good reputation for supporting charities and when setting up the club Simon was advised to consider how it would deal with the inevitable approaches for support. “Despite its size the club is run on a shoestring. In order to avoid repeated discussion about who we’d support it made sense to pick a charity and stick with it. Having looked around we found a smaller charity that does excellent work with veterans of many conflicts but receives little publicity.”
The First World War led to the birth of nearly 18,000 charities, BLESMA is one of around 10 that still exist today. Forty thousand servicemen lost limbs or eyes during the First World War – and lived to return to a “land fit for heroes”. They were swiftly disillusioned. Amputation techniques were in their infancy, artificial limbs primitive and, due to mass unemployment, 90% of the nation’s war limbless could not find work.
During this period the limbless gathered together in groups determined that if society would not help them, they would help themselves. So the Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association was born and grew, finally achieving national status in 1932 as the British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association – BLESMA.
Since its creation BLESMA has lobbied successive governments to achieve improvements in pensions, in standards of artificial limbs, the provision of suitable motor transport and employment opportunities. Residential homes have been opened, wide ranging health and well-being services initiated, sporting activities undertaken and innovative research commissioned, all helped by the fund-raising activities of volunteers.
Since 1932, BLESMA has been the only national armed forces charity that supports limbless veterans for the duration of their lives. Although modern medicine is capable of treating the physical injury, it is a complicated process to treat the emotional trauma and related lifelong health problems. Catering for veterans of all conflicts, from The Second World War to Afghanistan, the demands for its services sadly show no sign of diminishing.
Anyone wishing to join the AFSC in supporting BLESMA may do so by visiting www.blesma.org.
The AFSC has, by default, become a small part of that support network and is very important in the lives of many of its members. It may surprise those who haven’t served that members of the armed forces don’t socialise much outside their own unit.
“The AFSC seems to have broken down those barriers with all three services mixing together. There’s obviously a large amount of banter and scootering seems to have gathered together quite a few people who, for whatever reason, don’t want to engage with the more usual unit associations. Several members of the club have moved on to have successful post service careers and have been able to give assistance to others whose transition has been less smooth.”
As we round off our conversation Simon asks if he can add something else: “I’d like to thank the scooterists who let us get on with our own thing at rallies. It’s not that we’re anti-social but sometimes we need our own space and people seem to instinctively understand and respect that. To us they are true heroes.”
From being a 1980s novelty to its current healthy membership, the AFSC continues to grow and evolve, maintaining its relevance in a rapidly changing climate. It’s likely to remain a key part of British scootering for many years to come. Words: Stan