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Supporting Veterans, Building Community and Remembering One of Their Own
Some organisations support veterans.
Others become a community.
Phoenix Heroes is very much the latter.
Based in Colchester, Essex, Phoenix Heroes has spent years building a growing veteran community around something incredibly powerful: bringing people together.
Through fishing, football, golf, outdoor activities, family days and community projects, and soon its Veteran Base Camp, Phoenix Heroes creates opportunities for veterans and their families to reconnect, build friendships and, importantly, know that they are not alone.
A Community Built Around Camaraderie
Founded in 2018 by Army veteran Gary Stockton, Phoenix Heroes has grown from a desire to support veterans through transition, isolation and the challenges that can follow military service into a wider network supporting veterans and their families.
Whether it’s fishing, football, golf, outdoor activities or simply sitting down with people who understand where you’ve come from, the activity may change, but the purpose remains the same:
Connection, belonging and support.
Phoenix Heroes has now helped more than 1,500 people and continues to develop its Veteran Base Camp in Colchester as a welcoming space for the veteran community.
Sometimes the biggest difference you can make isn’t about providing an answer.
It’s about providing somewhere to go, someone to talk to, or simply a reason to get out of the house.
When Fishing Becomes Much More Than Fishing
One of Phoenix Heroes’ most established communities is carp fishing.
From the outside, a group of veterans beside a lake might simply look like a fishing competition.
But spend a little time around it and the picture changes.
Fishing provides time away from everyday pressures. It creates conversation without forcing it, gives people a shared purpose and, perhaps most importantly, creates friendships.
And this is where the Veterans Raffle Shield comes in.
The 2026 Veterans Raffle Shield
At the end of August, Phoenix Heroes hosted the 2026 Veterans Raffle Shield in Worcester.
This annual carp fishing event brings veterans together around a sport they love, but underneath the fishing rods, bivvies and competition is something far more important.
Camaraderie.
The Shield is about veterans spending time with veterans, creating friendships and making memories.
This year’s event, however, carried an additional significance.
The 2026 Veterans Raffle Shield was held in memory of Chas McNeil.
Remembering Chas
Chas wasn’t simply a supporter of Phoenix Heroes. He was part of its fabric.
An excellent angler, passionate supporter of veterans and active member of the Phoenix Heroes Veteran Carp Angling Community (VCAC), Chas was one of those people who left an impression wherever he went.
He was also a man who had lived an extraordinary life.
A 22-year veteran of the Royal Logistic Corps, Chas was a highly experienced skydiver and instructor and played a central role within the RLC Silver Stars Army Parachute Display Team. His passion for parachuting continued long after his military service, eventually leading him to establish his own parachute jump school on the Isle of Wight.
But alongside the skies was another passion: fishing.
Through Phoenix Heroes, Chas used that passion to help bring veterans together. He was also there at the very beginning of the Veterans Raffle Shield journey, attending the inaugural event at Fennes Fisheries in Braintree in 2020.
Sadly, Chas lost his life earlier this year in a tragic skydiving accident. He was 49.
His loss was felt deeply across the communities he had become such an important part of, from the military and parachuting worlds to fishing and Phoenix Heroes.
Chas was also a dedicated supporter of Veterans Raffle, actively helping to raise awareness of our fundraising platform and promoting it whenever he had the opportunity.
That support meant a great deal to us.
And while Chas may no longer be beside the lake, his presence was undoubtedly felt at this year’s Shield.
A Legacy That Lives On
There is something particularly powerful about remembering someone by doing something they loved.
Chas loved fishing. He loved the outdoors. He loved adventure. And, perhaps most importantly, he loved people.
The Veterans Raffle Shield brings all of those things together and provides veterans with a reason to meet, talk, laugh and spend time together.
That feels like a fitting legacy for someone who dedicated so much of his life to bringing people together.
And Phoenix Heroes’ work doesn’t stop when an event finishes.
This is a community operating 365 days a year, helping veterans and their families build stronger connections and find friendship, purpose and support.
That’s why organisations like Phoenix Heroes matter.
Where Veterans Raffle Comes In
This is also why Veterans Raffle exists.
Some of the most important work being done for veterans happens at grassroots level.
Sometimes it happens beside a fishing lake, at a community football pitch, around a table with a cup of coffee, or soon at a place like Phoenix Heroes’ Veteran Base Camp.
Veterans Raffle provides regular funding to grassroots veterans’ organisations, helping them put that money where it is needed most.
Around 95% of every £10 monthly donation is allocated to charity and prizes combined, with Veterans Raffle keeping its operational costs around 5%.
For Phoenix Heroes, that support can help turn ideas into reality: sustaining activities, supporting community projects and helping develop opportunities for those who need them.
It can also help events like the Veterans Raffle Shield continue to bring veterans together year after year.
And that’s the beauty of the model.
One person’s £10 monthly donation might not feel like much.
But when thousands of people make that same decision, collectively it becomes something much bigger:
- Fishing weekends
- Community projects
- Family days
- Peer support
- Opportunities for veterans to simply feel part of something again
More Than a Shield
The trophy presented at the end of the 2026 Veterans Raffle Shield goes to the winner.
But perhaps this year it represented something else too:
- A reminder that the bonds formed through military service don’t have to disappear when the uniform comes off.
- A celebration of everything Phoenix Heroes continues to do for veterans, families and serving personnel.
- A tribute to a man who gave his time, energy and voice to supporting that community.
Chas McNeil is sorely missed by everyone fortunate enough to call him a friend.
But people like Chas leave something behind.
They leave stories, friendships, memories and a community that continues to do the things they cared about.
So as Phoenix Heroes looks ahead to another year of fishing, friendship, support and camaraderie, the 2026 Veterans Raffle Shield will stand as more than another event in the calendar.
It will be a reminder that sometimes the best way to honour someone is simply to keep doing the things they loved.
Chas cared deeply about veterans. He cared about Phoenix Heroes. He cared about fishing. And he cared about bringing people together.
We hope the Veterans Raffle Shield continues to honour all four for many years to come.
Rest easy, Chas.
Your friends have got this.
Want to support Phoenix Heroes? Choose them as your charity when you join Veterans Raffle.