Tributes tell of huge loss

Tributes have been paid to the founder of the hugely successful Help for Heroes charity after his passing.

Bryn Parry died of pancreatic cancer yesterday and made the charity a household name after establishing it with his wife in 2007.

The charity has raised more than £125m over the past five years to provide recovery services and individual grants to military veterans.

He was 67.

Parry, who had been a captain in the Royal Green Jackets, was shocked by the sheer number of service personnel being cared for and the severity of their wounds after visiting a hospital for service personnel.

The charity said: “Without Bryn, this Charity wouldn't be here. Without him, over 27,000 veterans and their families wouldn't have received lifechanging support. Bryn was instrumental in changing the focus of the nation and the way we regard both military service and wounded veterans.

“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 offer our deepest sympathy and love to Emma, Sophie, Tom and Louisa.”