Speaking at the launch, Home20 Coordinator Diane Farebrother said: “We’re up and running and ready to provide lots of useful information about how we’re there to support the deployment.
“We’ve already had lots of positive feedback from people who knew about the Home20 concept from previous tours as well as others who knew nothing about it. People are finding the deployment guide very useful and the fact that the website is password free means that it’s easy to access, so friends and family from all over the world can get information about what’s going on.”
LAUNCH
The Paderborn-based Brigade is due to split on operations across three theatres, with the bulk of ‘The Iron Fist’ being sent to Iraq next month on Operation TELIC 13.
Meanwhile Sennelager’s 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards (QDG) have already arrived in Afghanistan to start their tour of duty where they are joined by soldiers from B Company The 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1PWRR) and other units from across BFG. B Company of Münster-based 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (1 YORKS) deployed to Kosovo in September.
Home20 was launched earlier this month with a colourful display at the NAAFI Max in Sennelager, including a huge giveaway of Home20 mugs, mousemats, bags, pens and helium-filled balloons.
Under sixteens got into the spirit of the occasion by playing a special version of “Home20 Bingo” with a star prize of a 20 Euro voucher donated by NAAFI.
Visiting the launch, father-of-five Corporal Andrew Rutherford, attached to 200 Signal Squadron, said: “Personally I’ve never seen this sort of stuff before, so I think this is very good. I’ve been in the Army since 1993 and this is the first time that I’ve been posted away out of the country. It’ll be quite difficult for my wife because we’re not used to it.
“I think the website is probably going to be the biggest hit because it means I can keep in contact with everybody else, especially the kids.” |
