Manor Creative - News

A moving tribute to British servicemen and women is being printed and published for Remembrance Day by FireStep Publishing based in Eastbourne, Sussex and printed by Manor Creative.

Publisher, Ryan Gearing, has compiled the poetry anthology Enduring Freedom to mark ten years of British military operations in Afghanistan. The book takes its title from the name given to the overall operations in that country. His Grace, The Duke of Westminster, former head of the Territorial Army, has written the foreword and the introduction is written by Sir Andrew Motion who is an active supporter of HM Forces and former Poet Laureate, 1999 to 2009. For every copy sold £2 will be donated to the military charity, Combat Stress aiming to raise £10,000 for their Enemy Within Appeal.

One of the poems comes from former St Andrew’s pupil, Katie Butler-Manuel who wrote “War” after studying Wilfred Owen and is now at Eastbourne College. The book has been printed by Manor Creative, Graham Brownett CEO said, “We are proud to be associated with such a high profile book and Combat Stress and wish the project well in raising funds for our veterans’ welfare.”

Neil Cox, Communications Manager from Combat Stress said: “Enduring Freedom is a powerful collection of poetry, which explores war and its effects from a variety of different perspectives: serving personnel, veterans and their loved ones. Its publication is very timely, as Remembrance time approaches and as we mark 10 years of engagement in Afghanistan.

“We hope that this new book will open a new generation’s eyes to the sacrifices our brave fighting men and women – and their families – make in our name. We’d also like to thank Ryan Gearing and FireStep Publishing for kindly agreeing to donate a percentage of their profits to Combat Stress, the UK’s leading military charity specialising in the treatment and care of veterans’ mental health.

“Some of the contributors to Enduring Freedom are Combat Stress veterans and we hope that reading this anthology will give an insight into the mental health effects of war . Combat Stress relies on the generosity of the British public to fund much of its work, and we hope that, through sales of this book, more veterans with mental health issues will be able to get the treatment and support that they need.”

For more information on the book visit www.firesteppublishing.com