You can help us in two ways:

1. Sign and share our petition asking Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond to return the VAT
2. Our request has been tabled as an Early Day Motion by the Right Honourable Ruth Smeeth MP and we need your help to get signatures. You can find out who your MP is here and email them, asking them to support Early Day Motion 1740. It only takes 5mins to find your MP and let them know why this is important to their constituents

Thank you so much for your support!

Our silhouettes are now appearing all over Sydney, to commemorate the Australian men and women who died in the First World War.

If you are based in Australia, we would love you to send us pictures of the ‘Diggers’ you spot around the country in the run up to Remembrance Day.

Australian purchases of our 10″ ‘Digger Figures’ raises money for The Invictus Games Foundation and The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL). If you’re an Australian reader, you can purchase your Digger on our website.

If you have Australian family or friends, please do forward this newsletter to them – we’d love to see their pictures!

This week, we meet Jamie, a primary school teacher who uses our educational resources to get his students thinking about the different men who fought and the nature of sacrifice.

Last week, we met Martin, as he trained for the Invictus Games and shared how important the support of military charities has been for him and his family. This week, he won gold in the Men’s Heavyweight IP6, lifting 206kg – the heaviest weight the Invictus Games has ever seen lifted!

We also met Joyce, who never met her uncles who fought in the First World War and loves sharing her family stories with her grandchildren.If you haven’t seen them yet, we really encourage you to watch – they are a powerful and poignant reminder of why we do what we do.

£800,000 of that has been paid in tax to HMRC.

So far, HMRC is the single largest beneficiary of our fundraising. You can find out more in the Telegraph.

In the centenary year of the end of the First World War, it seems wrong to us that veterans won’t benefit from a large chunk of the money you have helped us raise. So we are calling on the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, to return the VAT raised on the sale of our Tommies so that we can make sure it goes to those who need it most.

• Sign our petition
• Encourage your friends and family to sign
• Share on social media with the hashtag #TommyVAT – the links below will make that easy for you!
• Tag the Chancellor @PhilipHammondUK and let him know what you think!

If you would like to be considered for this trip, please reply to this email bymidday Sunday 7th October and let us know:

• Who your relative was
• What was their story
• Where are they buried

We will be in touch with selected families early next week.

We have lots of events that we’d love you to get involved in, from the launch of our new podcast to the opening of a second round of funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

Tommy’s History Mystery is designed to introduce students to the different men who fought in the war – from conscripted to colonial troops, underage fighters to those suffering from shell shock.

We have also worked with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to create a class about about the creation of memorials and how families found their lost loved ones in the years after the war.

Schools are also eligible for the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust silhouette funding, if you wanted to host an installation alongside your classes.

St Mary Magdalene’s Church in South Bersted, Bognor Regis is hosting a There But Not There event, with 30 silhouettes that they have received via a grant and congregational sponsorship.

The congregation of St Mary Magdalene’s includes a team of researchers who have found information and pictures of the 104 men who are on the Roll of Honour. This information will form an exhibition to accompany the silhouettes and the display will be adorned with 300 handmade poppies and 100 white crosses, made by another team of helpers from the church.

The congregation are also making films, recording WWI poetry and creating a prayer corner as well as 104 named poppy pebbles – one for every man lost – which school groups will be invited to turn into a giant poppy on the chancel floor.

The church will be decorated and special candlelit sessions will be held. Doors will open to the public on 17th October – 11th November and all are welcome.