Help for Heroes: From organizational discourse to a new orthodoxy

Abstract

This article offers an account of the institutional entrepreneurship behind the formation of the UK charity for military veterans, Help for Heroes, along with an analysis of the symbols, narratives and rhetoric that made up its organizational discourse. Tracing the development of the charity since its launch in 2007, the inquiry considers the means of transmission used by Help for Heroes to diffuse its organizational discourse, arguing that a dualistic promotional approach across elite and mass media – narrative through a network of support from mass media outlets as well as individual actors, such as members of the Royal Family, politicians and celebrities – helped to propagate a new national orthodoxy of veterans as heroes. The conclusion is that 10 years after its foundation, Help for Heroes’ discursive legacy has reinvigorated the veteran charity sector in a way not seen since the end of World War I and established a wide and deep level of support among civic society for veterans as a social cause, regardless of the level of support for the underlying military operations.