Lee Harris-Hamer from the Army Benevolent Fund Shares His Story

As we enter our fourth year of supporting the Army Benevolent Fund (ABF) with our Steel Soldiers Campaign, we’ve been finding out how our fundraising is directly making a difference to soldiers and their families.

Lee Harris-Hamer entered the armed forces as a boy at age 17. He was medically discharged in 2016 following a non-operational injury and subsequently catapulted into a world he didn’t know or understand with the added pressure of a wife and child to support.

Through the help of the ABF, and his own deep-rooted tenacity and dedication, Lee has completely transformed his life and is now the proud owner of multi-million-pound business, White Horse Laundry Services.

Here he shares his inspirational story

I really owe my life to the Army Benevolent Fund; it rescued me at a time in my life where I was at a complete loss. Being in the army was the only life I knew, so being pulled out at age 25 was bewildering – I didn’t have a clue how to exist in the real world and it led to me having a breakdown.

The ABF rescued me and gave me support. They began by teaching me how to be self-employed which led to me starting my own carpet cleaning business. It felt like a good option as it didn’t require years of training – it was something I could do straight away, and I had a family to feed and a house to pay for – I needed to earn money.

The fund gave me a £6,000 grant which enabled me to buy everything I needed to get going. They also provided me with specialist training where I learnt about carpet fibres and the science behind how carpet is put together. They also supported me with how to create a business plan and marketing – the whole package.

In those days, I also got an evening job as a Social Educator at a private school, teaching boys with Aspergers and Autism basic life skills like how to cook, establish a routine and go to Tesco’s – things we all take for granted. I was working 7am-2pm on the carpets and then 2pm – 7pm at the school, it was an exhausting time.

Things collided for a second time. The carpet business didn’t quite take off and my mental health was suffering. This led to another breakdown and the realisation that I wasn’t best placed to help vulnerable children when I was suffering so much myself. I needed money, so on a whim I helped a friend clean their house when they were moving. A week later, his mum asked me to clean her house because I’d done such a good job – I didn’t intend to be a cleaner, but it appeared I was rather good at it!

Things ricocheted quite quickly and before I knew it, I was cleaning full time – having to say no to jobs because there weren’t enough hours in the day. My mum’s friend who was retired began to help me and it wasn’t long before I needed to employ people. Fast forward to today and I now employ 60 people and look after 200 clients. I’ve launched my second business – White Horse Laundry service, where we provide commercial laundry services for hotels and B&B’s.

Thanks to the training I received through the ABF I’m able to do this – I didn’t have a clue what a risk assessment was or a VAT return – I had to learn it all.

A mission to help others

I know how lucky I am, and I can’t quite believe how things have worked out. I love people and I want to spread kindness. Doing things for others costs nothing, yet the ripple effect it can have is huge. I’m now in a position where I can provide 60 people with a job – putting food on the table for their families. That to me is amazing. I got help at my lowest point and if I can go on to help others then it makes the world a better place. I know I can’t change the world, but I can do the best that I can. I make sure my business is for the people – nobody that works here is a number. Everyone is upskilled if they want to be and I’m currently working out a system that promotes recognition through the company.

I know how difficult life can be and so I’ll spend the rest of mine doing what I can to help others. Anyone who supports the Army Benevolent Fund is changing people’s lives for the better – I’m living proof of that and I’m so incredibly grateful.

Visit the ACS Steel Soldiers page here to donate and order your soldier.