Crewkerne military child wins Little Troopers monthly award

Little Troopers, a charity who supports children with parents in the armed forces, awarded Arthur Berridge with a Little Trooper of the Month award for coping with his dad being away during lockdown.

Arthur's Dad, Matt, is a submariner in the Royal Navy and he was deployed for seven months at the beginning of 2020.

During his time away, Arthur's mum, Kelly, welcomed a new baby boy, Robin, into the world.

Arthur and his mum were unable to have any phone contact with Matt, and just two months into the deployment, the country went into lockdown.

This was just one day before Arthur's fifth birthday and so his superhero party was cancelled, and just six days later he got a new baby brother.

“We would send Matt messages using familygram but you can only send 60 words twice a week," said Kelly.

"We weren’t able to speak to him or video call him. I think Arthur found it very hard that he couldn’t tell his Daddy things that happened.

"We had a toy post box at home where Arthur could put letters and drawings in for Daddy to read when he came home.

"Obviously it was very hard with Arthur home schooling at the time but he always did his best.

"He has worried a lot about how 'the germs' are affecting the world, but despite this he always tries his best and makes us all very proud.

“He has really been the most caring big brother and Robin completely adores him!

"When Matt came home in July we also threw a little ‘welcome home’ party and Arthur made a big banner and picked all the party food.”

Arthur will receive a medal, certificate and a £50 voucher from Little Troopers for winning the award.

Louise Fetigan, founder of the charity, said Arthur's story 'really stood out', as many people assume military children are able to video call and chat, but this is not always the case.

"There are lots of cases where contact is limited or, as in Arthur’s case, the family can’t contact each other at all," she added.

"That’s so tough and is exactly why we launched initiatives like the Little Troopers birthday card scheme and the Little Troopers Treasures story recording app to bridge that gap and connect children and their parents during such a difficult time.

“We hope that giving Arthur this award will help him realise just how special he is and how proud his family are of him and everything he has been through.

"Well done Arthur!”