Family Butcher Raises More Than £250,000 For Help For Heroes
Hampshire butcher Alf Turner has raised over £250,000 over the past decade in support of the Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes, and it all started with Hampshire Fare’s Great Hampshire Sausage & Pie Competition.
Alf Turner family butcher was founded by Alf Turner in 1956 after he left the Armed Forces. Having served in the Royal Army Service Corps for 20 years, Alf decided to open his butcher’s shop in Aldershot, the home of the British Army. Over 65 years later the family butcher is now run by Alf’s grandson, Paul Turner, who launched the Alf Turner brand nationwide after winning success in the Hampshire Fare Great Hampshire Sausage & Pie competition.
Their products include not only sausages, but the famous Dragon’s Egg Scotch Egg. Ten years ago, in 2012, Paul entered the BBC television show Dragon’s Den and won investment from Peter Jones, who is still part the business today, and the Dragon’s Egg Scotch Egg is available at major supermarkets across the UK. In 2012, Alf Turner butcher also joined forces with Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes, donating 2p from the sale of every product. Since then, they have raised more than £250,000 for the charity from the sale of over 12.5 million products.
Paul Turner of Alf Turner Butcher said of the milestone: “We are thrilled as a family to have been able to donate this huge sum of money to Help for Heroes from the sale of our products and we are tremendously excited for the future and continuing this partnership.”
The charity’s co-founder, Mark Elliott, said: “The money Alf Turner has donated from the sale of Dragon Eggs, Seasonings and Pork Scratchings has helped our beneficiaries receive the help they have required, when they have needed it the most. From our very seriously injured veterans (VSI) to our current suicide awareness programme, these donations have enabled us to continue the promise we made to ‘always be there’.
“Over a decade of support from Alf Turner has enabled our sports recovery team help beneficiaries participate in adapted sports, use skills they never knew they had on our horticulture, woodworking and model making courses and even learn how to prepare and cook the very best BBQs using Alf Turner Field Seasonings course. £250,000 has helped support those with mental health challenges, counselling and our most recent campaign, combating isolation.”
To mark the 10-year partnership and the £250,000 milestone, Paul Turner sat down with Peter Jones, Help for Heroes Patron Ross Kemp, and the charity’s co-founder Mark Elliott to discuss the support of Peter Jones and the difference the butchers have made to the Armed Forces community.
Mark Elliott commented to Paul Tuner: “What you have achieved over the past ten years is nothing short of phenomenal.”
Peter Jones added: “I am certainly very proud to be working with you, and to raise the money you have for Help for Heroes is awesome.”