Paying our respects on Armed Forces Day

Today we're proud to announce that we're launching a campaign for Armed Forces Day to pay respects to ex-Service men and women who lost their sight while fighting for our country.

We're taking digital billboards across London and displaying the emotive portrait photographs of nine veterans who lost their sight in conflicts including the post Second World War period, The Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, on Armed Forces Day, Saturday 24 June.

We worked with out-of-home specialist OOhyes and media owner London Lites to get the campaign up across huge digital screens in key locations across the capital including Waterloo, South Kensington, Surrey Quays, Wandsworth, Notting Hill and Hampstead.

Meet one of our veterans

One of the veterans featured in the campaign is Simon Brown, who lost his sight when he was shot through the face by a sniper while leading a mission to recover six stranded colleagues in Iraq.

Simon continues: “These portraits highlight both the tragedy and triumph of our veterans in Service and recovery.

“I’m proud to be a part of this campaign to show Service personnel and veterans that we’ll be here for them when they need us.”

An award-winning photographer

We worked with award-winning photographer Richard Cannon to capture the portraits. He says: “It was an honour to photograph these heroes who gave so much for their country. When deciding on how to approach the portraits of the blind veterans, I wanted to give them a sense of pride and presence in the final image.

“So I shot them slightly below the eyeline to give them a more powerful look. The viewer will then get a sense of respect and admiration for these brave individuals.”

Facilitating positive change

Founder & CEO of OOhyes, George Rossides, says: “OOhyes was founded on the belief that every business has a role to play in facilitating positive change. So I’m delighted to have planned this campaign for Blind Veterans UK on Armed Forces Day.

“The portraits capture the strength and resilience of the veterans that Blind Veterans UK supports and they look incredible on London Lites’ large format digital sites.”