THE founders of military charity Help for Heroes (H4H) are stepping down from their full time roles with the charity after nearly a decade.

Bryn Parry and his wife Emma founded the charity, which runs a recovery centre in Tidworth, in October 2007.

The pair will be handing over the reigns but will continue to be ambassadors for H4H as its co-founders.

Mr Parry will be handing over the chief executive role to a new successor by the end of the year.

In a letter to trustees, Mr Parry said: “Now the time has come to hand over and let others take this wonderful organisation into its next phase. The charity is well-led, correctly governed, properly funded and in a strong position to face whatever challenges the future may bring, but it needs a different set of skills to mine to take it forward.

“I would like to help you find my successor and would hope that I could hand over to the right candidate before the end of this year. I would then offer my continued services and support in my capacity as co-founder for as long as you felt they were needed.

“Help for Heroes will always be a part of Emma’s and my life and we will watch proudly from the side-lines as it continues to thrive and help ‘the blokes’ to rebuild theirs.”

Help for Heroes offers support to sick, injured and wounded veterans and serving military personnel. It runs four recovery centres, including Tedworth House in Tidworth, which has given over £31m to other military charity partners and a further £10.5m via 9,000 direct individual grants.

The charity started as a nine month campaign built around a charity bike ride.

Mr Parry added: “Much has happened since we set out to raise funds for a much-needed swimming pool at Headley Court. Millions have been raised, thousands of individuals, serving, veterans and their families have been helped and many other charities supported.”

He said: “I had expected to run H4H for nine months before returning to my life as a cartoonist and designer but instead have been chief executive for nearly nine years.

“It has been the most demanding but rewarding period of my life and something of which I will always be immensely proud. I am a lucky man to have had this opportunity to make such a difference to the lives of others and I am grateful for the privilege, however unexpected and challenging.”

The charity’s trustees have started the formal process of finding a successor to take on the chief executive role.

In a letter on the charity’s website they said: “You [Bryn] and Emma will always be part of H4H and on behalf of everyone at H4H but more importantly of everyone who has benefited from the charity’s work, I would like to thank you both and wish you well in the next phase of your lives.”