As we draw an end to 2018 we would like to thank all our members for their continued, and has to be said amazing support this year. Command staff and crew members, front of house or behind the scenes, our members through the continual building and development of stunning screen accurate costumes, event coordination, organiser liaison... and of course ‘trooping’ at events to raise money for charity, just continues to get better and better.

This year across the whole of the UK more than 38,500 trooper hours were freely given by our members at over 500 event days, generating thousands of pounds for various charities…

..and that doesn’t include the time taken by our members to travel to and from the events we support, and in some cases, overnight stays too.

And thank you to all our supporters and fans too - the people that come to see us at these events to have their photos taken with us or to meet their favourite characters, and to the families who have allowed us to visit your loved ones in hospital or care facilities to help put a smile on some very poorly little faces. 

Here’s to seeing you all at various events across the UK throughout 2019 – local events to national events, hospitals to hospices, small local charity fund raisers to the big MCM Comic Cons… each and every event is as important to us as it is to you.

Wishing you and yours a great and happy New Year.

#501st #ukgarrison #badguysdoinggood

Last week saw 501st UK Garrison troopers on site at the Transport for London Flag Day in aid of Help for Heroes at Kings Cross Underground Station in London. Assisting the fundraisers were Kylo Ren (Anthony Dome), two of our Stormtroopers (Paddy Kempshall and Barry Hibbett), and air support in the form of our TIE Pilot (Dan Wray). Helper/spotter at the event was Kris Kobus.

Photos used with permission.

Our troops were in attendance at the Candlelighters Xmas Party at the Royal Armouries in Leeds again this year. The 501st UK Garrison has attended this very special event for many years now, and we were honoured and delighted to be supporting them again this year.

Candlelighters a charity dedicated to fighting children's cancer, and their Xmas party let's the poorly children, their parents and family kick back and party, and forget about all their problems for a while.

Providing an imperial presence and a much needed distraction were Darth Vader (Stephen Robb), Royal Guard (Craig Johnson), Stormtroopers (Chris Bell, Tony Lee, Wayne Winfield and Andrew Harrison), Snow Scout (Will Humphreys), Commander Bacara (Darren Langthorne), Ewok (Maria Durden) and TIE Pilot (Dan Wray). We were joined by a Rebel Leion X wing pilot and Ewok (Lesley and Kaid) and beeps and bops were provided by an R2 unit from the R2 Builders.

Spotters and helpers on the day were Paul Durden, Alison Lee, Sharon Langthorne and Dave Cunningham.

This truly was one of those events where smiles were put on little faces and memories were made.

For more information on Candlelighters and what they do please vising their webste: http://www.candlelighters.org.uk

Each month every member of the 501st Legion worldwide can to nominate a member, who in their eyes has gone above and beyond the call of duty for the sake of charity or the welfare of the Legion. October 2018 '501st Trooper of the Month' goes to one of our very own Ian Rickhuss - a trained paramedic and stormtrooper in the UK Garrison.

Ian came to the aid of a member of the public at a recent troop.
We are very proud of this and would like to congratulate Ian for his outstanding work in the Garrison and the 501st Legion.

The 501st UK Garrison were in Bluewater last weekend to support the Marks & Spencer Macmillan Fundraiser. 

Troopers on the day were Paul Mannering (Darth Vader), Tracey Fennell (Legacy Era Female), Daniel Hunter-Pike (Stormtrooper), Dave Gilmore (Stormtrooper) and Mark Brooks (Spiderman). Our spotters on the day were Tom Barry and Martyn Fennell and together they raised over £600 towards Marks & Spencers Macmillan support campaign.

The members of the UK Garrison have made the BBC News - As they joined fans from around the country for  Wrexham's Wales Comic Con 10th birthday.