A weekly breakfast club for members of the armed forces and veterans will be opening on Saturday February 2 at 9.30 am in The White Harte, the former Conservative Club in Marlborough.
Ex-army medic Yvonne Parsons who is married to an ex-military policeman is setting up the club. For the past three years she has been involved in a similar club in Swindon and perceived the need to provide one in Marlborough.
“We are very near a big military area here and there are lots of military people in the area. I used to run the mobility centre in Marlborough and met quite a lot of ex-military through that.”
The idea behind the breakfast club movement, which was started in 2007 in Hull and is now countrywide, is to provide friendship, camaraderie, and support. It is especially aimed at those who leave the services and have lost the link to that shared experience. It can be particularly helpful to those suffering with PTSD.
Yvonne told marlborough.news: “As soon as I joined the Swindon breakfast club I made new friends. Before I joined I didn’t know any other military people in the area. It filled a huge gap.”
“When you leave the armed forces you leave your job, home, community and lifestyle. It’s nice to build a community again. Even if only one person arrives that’s one less person having breakfast on their own. We need more of these clubs around the country.”
The breakfast club has disabled access and is open to veterans and their partners of all ages. In Swindon the youngest member is 27 and the eldest 98. There is no membership charge apart from the cost of the breakfast. The club looks after its members and has links to groups who can offer counselling or financial support.
To find out more and to join email: marlborough@afvbc.com or phone: 07765309379
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarlboroughDistrictAFVBC
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