Andy McNab News

Bravo one zero zero zero: Now McNab funds two volunteers

London Evening Standard
By Anna Davis, Education Correspondent
20 Jun 2011

Former SAS soldier turned novelist Andy McNab is to pay for two frontline volunteers to help children to read.

The Bravo Two Zero writer has thrown his weight behind the Evening Standard’s literacy campaign and donated £1,000 to the cause.

It comes after he also donated a book for adults who have problems reading, to encourage them to start becoming more literate.

More than 10,000 Evening Standard readers downloaded his ebook the Grey Man and Ruth Rendell’s The Thief – “Quick Reads” that can be read by adults with a reading age of nine or above.

Mr McNab said: “It wasn’t until I joined the Army as a boy soldier, when I had a reading age of 11, that I really had the chance to get an education. I’d like to think that other children today shouldn’t have to wait as long. If we can get them reading as early as possible, that’s got to be a great thing.”

Mr McNab advised other adults in a similar position to ignore anyone who laughs at them, and seek help learning to read. He said: “When I was in the Army I was told that the only reason I couldn’t read was because I didn’t read.

“You just have to get on with it. If there is a book that is accessible, short and sharp that is great. Just because you don’t read doesn’t mean you are thick.”

“I would say, ignore what anybody else thinks, just get on with it. At the end of the day it will be you who will be able to read with your children.”

Source:  London Evening Standard

Thanks Angel!

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Childline Rocks presents England Rocks – Hands Across The Water

May 14, 2011

Entitled England Rocks- Hands Across the Water, this summer’s ChildLine Rocks event will raise money for ChildLine by hosting a six day charity motorbike ride beginning in Cranbrook, BC in Canada and finishing in Ketchum, Idaho in the USA. Profits from the minimum pledged by each UK, US & Canadian rider (up to 50) embarking on this adventure are guaranteed to go straight to the charity.

In return for this generous contribution, enthusiasts will have the opportunity to ride iconic Harley Davidson motorbikes across some of the most breathtaking scenery, in the company of some extraordinary people. For instance, they will have Andy McNab DCM MM (a ChildLine Rocks ambassador, Patron of The Force Select Foundation & Help the Heroes, former SAS servicemen and bestselling author), the founder of March for Honour, Royal Marine Ram Patten, and rock band Thunder for company; joined by colleagues, they will be riding to raise money for the ForceSelect Foundation. This truly will be the trip of a lifetime….

The trip will be made all the more memorable by a fundraising sing-a-long each night. Locals will be cordially invited to join in the fun and raise some extra cash!

The full trip itinerary and fundraising targets are available on www.childlinerocks.co.uk. Each rider will be expected to cover their flight, hotel, motorcycle and other costs + raise a minimum of £1000 for ChildLine. England Rocks-Hands across the Water! hopes to raise a minimum of £50000 for ChildLine.

The whole event will culminate in a memorable rock concert on July 16 2011 at the Sun Valley Pavilion, Ketchum, Idaho. A major name headliner is to be announced but the concert will feature British acts, including The Union, winners of Classic Rock Awards’ Best New Breakthrough Band 2010 – a wonderful way to mark the end of a truly unique and worthwhile road trip.

Source: AltSounds and visit the Childline Rocks website

SAS Legend and Best Selling Author joins the cause!

We are delighted to announce that Andy McNab DCM MM has joined the cause as a Childline Rocks Ambassador. Andy commanded the famous Bravo Two Zero patrol in the Gulf war, the most decorated patrol since the Boer war whose exploits have been documented and recognised the world over. Awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal, Andy was the British Army’s most decorated soldier at time of leaving the SAS in February 1993.He has written about his experiences in the SAS in three bestselling books, has written many other books and gone on to sell over 30 million books worldwide. Additionally, he is a director of a Hereford based security company and has been involved in training videos for the Ministry of Defence. Andy also lectures for the FBI and gives motivational talks for large corporations on both sides of the Atlantic. He is a Patron of Help the Heroes and the Force Select Foundation, and we are honoured to have him on board!

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On Saturday the Babcock Trophy game between the Army and the Navy rugby teams will be raising money for the BFBS Big Salute.

Since it was launched in 2008, the Big Salute has raised more than £230,000 for Forces’ charities.

This year, a new cause has been added to the beneficiaries: Families Activity Breaks, which enables bereaved military children and spouses to get away from it all with people who’re in exactly the same boat.

BLESMA, which supports current or ex servicemen who’ve lost the use of limbs by encouraging amputees to help fellow amputees, continues to receive help from the BFBS campaign – as does Combat Stress, which, with each passing year receives record numbers of mental health referrals from the military community.

For almost a century, St Dunstan’s has been helping troops who’ve had their vision impaired in action. Not just initially, but with through-life support. The charity admits six hundred people every year.

The final good cause the Big Salute sends funds to is Veteran’s Aid which helps rehome those who find themselves homeless.

Author Andy McNab and Christina Schmid, the widow of bomb disposal expert SSgt Olaf Schmid have become patrons of the Big Salute, and the endeavour is heavily celebrity endorsed, with all sorts of desirable auction prizes which can be bid for online.

A new feature for people in the UK is a text-donation facility. And all across the forces world you’ll find ways to give – the biggest being the rattling of buckets at Twickenham. It’s hoped this level of exposure will bring in more cash for these forces charities than ever before.

To find out more please see: http://www.bfbs.com/bigsalute/

There’s a small word from Andy McNab on the BFBS Patrons page and see the video below of the event:

Andy McNab at 3 min:

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The new Nick Stone will be released 15 September and is named ‘Dead Centre’:

Indonesia, January 2005. Nick Stone is working undercover, to retrieve incriminating material from amongst the tsunami-ravaged chaos of a devastated landscape. His team is attacked and a man dies — but not before he makes an agonising promise that will return one day to haunt him…

Moscow, March 2011. Semi-retired but restless, Stone finds himself at the centre of an extraordinary encounter which turns his world upside down. An oligarch’s young son and heir has been snatched — with his mother — from aboard a luxury yacht in the Seychelles, and only one man has what it takes to track them down and bring them home.

The fuse is lit, and Stone is hurtled into his most complex and compelling mission yet — a mission that leads him from the Alpine enclaves of the super-rich to the savage underbelly of war-torn Somalia. And in a world where piracy, extortion and betrayal lurk in the twisted wreckage of imperial ambition, Stone’s principal objective turns remorselessly from liberation to revenge…

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Bantam Press (15 Sep 2011)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0593065220
ISBN-13: 978-0593065228

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On the Force Select website you can find several interviews with Andy McNab regarding Force Select, also in audio!

Go here to see the list on the Force Select website

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* Go here to read the English version

Naar aanleiding van de publicatie van Andy McNab’s  ‘De Afghanistan-Missie’ – de Nederlandse vertaling van War Torn – was Andy in Nederland voor interviews… en Grey Man’s Land was erbij!!

Dankzij de lieve dames van Uitgeverij AW Bruna  mocht ik Andy ‘ergens in Amsterdam’ interviewen. Gewassen en gestreken – en met knikkende knieën – was ik ruimschoots op tijd (lees: natuurlijk veel te vroeg, kon niet wachten!) op de afgesproken plaats. Hier kon ik me onder het genot van een luxe kopje thee nog even mentaal voorbereiden. Aan mijn flank mijn persoonlijke bodyguard, want je weet tenslotte maar nooit. Je gaat toch een hooggetrainde elite soldaat ontmoeten, met dodelijke handen – danwel ogen!

En dan is ie daar… Eerste indruk: Over zijn fameuze blauwe ogen is geen woord gelogen, zie foto voor het bewijs!

Ik krijg een stevige handdruk en een brede lach: al zou het gesprek de mist in gaan (hij zal toch onderhand wel vermoeid zijn na twee dagen gedwongen binnen zitten?) mijn dag kan niet meer stuk!!  Wat verder opvalt is dat hij zo levendig, vriendelijk en correct overkomt.  En van een eventuele vermoeidheid laat hij niks merken. Twee dagen interviews krijgen hem niet in de stress.
Ach natuurlijk niet… het is Andy McNab!

Een prachtige locatie, omringd door honderden boeken en een prettig gezelschap.. wat wil een mens nog meer!! Uiteindelijk heb ik bijna anderhalf uur met Andy mogen kletsen. Dat wil zeggen… hij kletste en ik knikte, hummde en noteerde.

Meer dan eens een klaterende lach en heel veel woorden. Vooral over het boek  ‘De Afghanistan Missie’ dat hij schreef in samenwerking met Kym Jordan. Maar we spraken ook over de Nick Stone film ‘Echelon’, ForceSelect, het regisseren van ‘De Jonge Soldaat’ (Boy Soldier) en natuurlijk over de nieuwe Nick Stone ‘Zero Hour’ die in november (in het Engels) gepubliceerd wordt. En nog veel meer.

Andy geeft heel uitgebreid antwoord op alle vragen. Ik neem graag voor lief dat daardoor niet al mijn vragen beantwoord zijn. Dat ligt tenslotte ook zeker aan de hoeveelheid vragen die ik op papier had staan. Tja.. als het om Andy gaat willen we gewoon alles weten! Gelukkig krijg ik de belofte de overige vragen later dit jaar te mogen stellen. ‘To be continued’ zullen we maar zeggen! Jippie!!

Goed nieuws voor Nederland: in februari 2011 wordt door Uitgeverij Bruna de Nederlandse vertaling van ‘Exit Wound’ gepubliceerd, onder de naam ‘Oorlogswond’ . En dan gelijk in mei daarna is de Nederlandse vertaling van ‘Zero Hour’ gepland (titel nog onbekend). De fans van Andy McNab worden door Bruna in de watten gelegd.

En dan nog een klein tipje van de ‘Zero Hour’ sluier: Na alle plaatsen die Nick Stone al bezocht heeft doet hij in deel 13 eindelijk Amsterdam aan! Die Balaclava in de Amsterdamse haven was Andy McNab op verkenning!

Natuurlijk was Andy ook genegen om mijn vers-van-de-pers exemplaar van ‘De Afghanistan-Missie’ te signeren. Wat hij erin geschreven heeft houd ik lekker voor mezelf maar ik kan je wel vertellen… ik was zeer vereerd!!

Nu de taak om het interview uit te werken, nog een aardige klus maar ik doe mij best!! Dus tot gauw.. enneh..geniet van de foto, dat doe ik ook!! Heel veel dank aan Uitgeverij Bruna en natuurlijk aan Andy McNab voor een geweldige ontmoeting…. you’re the best!

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