The Griffin Report: Meet the woman in charge of bringing Invictus Games 2027 to Birmingham
Birmingham beat off the claims of Washington DC to stage Prince Harry’s Invictus Games for wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans. The woman in charge of bringing this extraordinary sporting spectacular to Birmingham is HELEN HELLIWELL. JON GRIFFIN talks to her about an event that is expected to bring 20,000 people a day to the city.
She’s the woman in charge of an extraordinary sporting spectacular which will see the eyes of the world once again focus on Birmingham – and she pulls no punches about its social impact.
Helen Helliwell says of the Invictus Games, the brainchild of none other than Prince Harry: “People would say ‘you have given me my wife back’, or the kids say ‘I have got my mum back’ or people say it has saved my marriage.
“It is really, really powerful. It gives people their sense of self back, their sense of purpose.”
Those life-changing consequences are one of the many by-products of an international sporting festival especially for wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans – and on its way to Birmingham in just 17 months.
The Invictus Games may not be quite on the same scale as the acclaimed Commonwealth Games of 2022 – but the long-lasting benefits to around 550 competitors from 26 nations who will line up at the NEC and Sandwell Aquatics Centre in July 2027 are incalculable.
Helen, CEO of the Games awarded to Birmingham after the Midlands capital beat off the claims of Washington DC to win the coveted prize, explains: “When people leave the Armed Forces suddenly and they are normally fit, healthy people who suddenly have needs they have to adapt to and are normally sporty, that is quite a big transition from them being the strong one that normally provides for the family.
“That is why we talk about strength redefined because they overcome all of those obstacles and focus on what they can do. The Invictus Games gives them that platform to be back with their Armed Forces community again, whether they are still serving or have been medically discharged.
“It gives them a purpose, a sense of belonging – they are flying the flag for their country again – all the things that are super important to that community.”
It’s been a long, varied and, at times, action-packed road for Somerset-born Helen, who grew up on a small family farm and ended up in various roles with the Ministry of Defence.
This included taking part in the Hutton Inquiry following the Iraq invasion, attending the Milosevic War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague and visiting war-torn Afghanistan while embedded as the only civilian with the military operational team at the Permanent Joint HQ, the British tri-service headquarters located at Northwood, London, responsible for planning and controlling all overseas military operations.
“Milosevic was a very confident character but the Afghanistan job stayed with me a lot more. I was embedded with the military operational team, there was an amazing work ethic with a very small team coming together to work on operational policy for Afghanistan.
“I remember visiting a girls’ school in Kabul and they were fascinated by my hair – I had long, blonde hair at the time and that was unusual in Afghanistan, they didn’t want me to wear my headscarf.”
Lifelong memories of that nature notwithstanding, Helen’s considerable energies are today fully focused on Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 , as she and her current 13-strong exec team prepare the groundwork for a sporting feast with a difference which will bring the international spotlight back to Birmingham once again.
She first got involved with Prince Harry whilst working as a Defence Mental Health Champion – a relationship which continues to this day as the countdown to the Birmingham Games grows ever nearer. “It was really good to see his passion for mental fitness in the Armed Forces.
“He had seen the Warrior Games and after coming back into Birmingham on a plane with injured troops he wanted to take that model, make it international and see if we could do something here in the UK- he drove the very first Invictus Games in 2014, which were really successful, and it has since grown and grown and grown.”
Helen subsequently became involved with the Birmingham bid after several years working alongside the Invictus Games Foundation, helping reshape funding due to the City Council’s financial difficulties, with the event now underwritten by the MOD while also seeking corporate sponsorship.
“We had organised a plane to the Games in Dusseldorf for Team UK and there was space for the Birmingham team. I just wanted to keep it alive because Birmingham has got such strong ties with the Armed Forces community with the facilities at the QE Hospital.”
Helen reserves special praise for Fisher House on the QE site, the UK’s only home from home for injured military personnel and their families. “Fisher House is an amazing facility – it is a key part of the story and the narrative and the ecosystem that supports serving people, veterans and their families.
“We reshaped the bid to focus it on the NEC – with the airport out there it has got all the hotels that I need for the participants, officials, families and friends. There are no permanent infrastructure needs at all so that keeps the costs down – it is more of a case of putting in the pickleball and basketball courts, which are all temporary structures.
“Participants who have accessibility needs will just be able to go from the hotel and walk or wheel themselves to the field of play.”
She said the international benefits from the Games would resonate far beyond Birmingham, including in war-ravaged Ukraine. “Ukraine has a huge amount of needs and there is lots going on with the Foundation and the MOD in Ukraine – we are looking forward to making something special out of Ukraine’s participation in 2027.”
She said the Games would also shine a light on the West Midlands’ varying assets, from medicine to its infrastructure and facilities. “It really gives an opportunity to shine the spotlight, not just on world-leading medical facilities but also the area’s fantastic reputation for putting on major events, such as the Commonwealth Games.
“Our opening and closing ceremonies will be televised and the Games will be watched all over the world by people on social media. We hope to have in excess of 20,000 people a day visiting so they will want to stay in the hotels in Birmingham, go and eat in the restaurants and pubs and take part in all the cultural richness the region has to offer.”
Helen is also hoping that Prince Harry will be among the thousands attending events at the NEC and Sandwell Aquatics Centre
“He is Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation which is our governing body. He is super excited that the Games are coming to Birmingham – he is incredibly passionate about Invictus and what it can do. It is his leadership that has enabled it to thrive.”
This article first appeared in the February 2026 edition of Chamberlink magazine.
