Soldier's widow aims to make children smile again (From Salisbury Journal)

Soldier's widow aims to make children smile again

6:30am Thursday 26th August 2010 in News By David Falcke

THE widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan last year is making it her goal to make life a little brighter for children trying to cope with the loss of a parent.

Corporal Lee Scott, 26, of 2 Royal Tank Regiment, was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan in July last year leaving his wife, Nichola, and two children, Kai, now five, and 19-month-old Brooke in Tidworth.

But despite having to cope with the tragedy that has hit her family, Mrs Scott is determined to reach out to reach out to other children through Scotty’s Little Soldiers.

“When it first happened I thought that there were loads and loads of things out there for the wives who are well supported by the Army,” she said. “But I thought that there was something missing.”

“I had a little idea early on, but I was not strong enough to do anything about it and then all of a sudden one day I just thought Lee would havesaid, ‘don’t just think about something – do it’.”

“Lee was the really, really fun parent, he was the one always mucking about with the kids, so I felt that a part of that had gone and although I was trying to be upbeat, I just wanted to see my kids smile again.”

She said the changes in her children have been all too evident.

“I have watched the changes in Kai. Sometimes he is very withdrawn, sometimes so angry, quite aggressive and other times just sobbing and sobbing.

“Kai got so angry with me because I told him that daddy was coming home, and then he didn’t.

“There are times when he just does not understand it. The other week a friend was happy because his daddy had come back from Afghanistan and Kai was so hurt and angry because his daddy was never coming home.”

Both Kai and Brooke have a piece of one of their father's shirts with regimental badges sewn on them and both of them take them to bed as a comforter.

Now Mrs Scott has put together a committee of other wives from the regiment and the charity will be launched at 2pm on Saturday at the Tidworth Community Centre.

The charity is aiming to send every child who has lost a father through war a present on their birthday and at Christmas, then to try to buy three really nice caravans and put them at places around the country where people can have a real break. The long-term aim is to buy a holiday home in Florida so children can go to Disneyland.

“We are not saying a trip out will help their grief, but we want to put a smile back on their faces for a little while, give them a bit of fun for a time.”

The charity’s Facebook profile has had over 1,000 hits in the first hour and donations are already coming in.

Anyone who would like to help can send donations by cheque to Scotty’s Little Soldiers at PO Box 76, Tidworth, SP9 9AB, or come along to the launch party.