Armed Forces Week marked in Sleaford

Serving military, veterans’ groups, the local community and charities were invited to attend the free event, which closed with a primary school choir performance.

The flag raising was saluted by the Station Commanders, Station Warrant Officers and military representation from RAF Cranwell and RAF Digby. It commemorated the 15th anniversary of the end of Op Telic, the 35th anniversary of the end of the Gulf War, and the 90th anniversary of Bomber Command.

This was followed by a dozen Lincolnshire veterans, whose service collectively spanned more than 200 years, being among the Armed Forces personnel thanked for their contributions at North Kesteven District Council’s Celebration of Military Service event in the Council Chamber.

The veterans received their commemorative Veterans Badge and compere Wing Commander Howard Leader explained how, by being reframed as a Celebration of Military Service the event sought to champion not only veterans and serving personnel, but also the wives, husbands, children and broader families and communities which support them in their duties. “The strength and resilience of everyone involved in the military does not go unnoticed and deserved our sincere gratitude too,” he said.

Councillor Richard Wright, Leader of North Kesteven District Council, presented Veterans Badges to 12 Lincolnshire veterans during the poignant ceremony.

This included a veteran of 38 years who told how he inadvertently met through conversation at a royal reception someone he had battled against during the Falklands War and toasted their mutual ‘miss’. Also, veterans who cooked for the Queen, other members of the Royal Family and Little and Large, an Airframe Technician who when in the Falklands helped lift penguins back on their feet which had been toppled by a low-flying helicopter; and another veteran named in honour of the RAF motto Per Ardua ad Astra.

Also among the attendees was Centenarian D-Day veteran Les Budding, and senior military representation including the Station Commander from RAF Digby.

Councillor Wright, who himself is a veteran of 13 years’ service with the RAF, said: “It was fantastic, it’s always great to get the veterans here and we were very lucky that yet again Les Budding, our D-Day veteran, was able to attend.

“Celebrating what people have done is so important. In this district, over 10 per cent of our population are veterans and, on top of that, with the serving personnel and their families, military service makes a big part of life in Lincolnshire.

“For anyone who has served, being here they know they’re amongst friends.”

A schools’ poster design competition on the theme of Bomber Command’s 90th anniversary drew 98 entries. Won by Evelyn C from Ling Moor Primary Academy, she will receive her prize from council chairman Coun Christine Collard, during a school assembly at a later date.

Hosted in NKDC’s Council Chamber, the local charity Veterans Support Service staged an Armed Forces Community Open Day on Wednesday (June 24) which also marks Reservists Day and was free to attend.

Serving military personnel, along with those with a military connection such as Veterans, military families, reservists and cadets, were all welcome.

The charity was founded by veterans who had found themselves with their own mental health struggles after their military careers ended. It began as a pilot project in 2019 by David Poultney (CEO) and Simon Hallam (Chief Operating Officer), starting as a Community Interest Company before upgrading to charitable status last September.

David said: “My colleague had severe, complex PTSD after serving in the first Gulf War, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, so we did a trial project with the NHS and trained as veterans specific peer support workers.”

It worked so well they formed the CIC, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the project progressing. They eventually were successful in securing grant funding from the National Lottery for a further five years.

They aim to improve the health and wellbeing of the Armed Forces community within Lincolnshire through advocacy, social events, peer support, open days and assistance in navigating the wider voluntary sector and bodies through a network of fellow veterans.

Holding their first open day in 2021, they now do three a year around the county, said David, who served for 38 years in the RAF. “Lincolnshire is the second largest county in the UK and the second largest in numbers of veterans. Veterans often find themselves socially isolated with no close family connections locally.

"We move the open days around the county to maximise reach and get different organisations to support it. It is a one-stop shop and not all the organisations taking part are military, such as Carers First and the volunteer service. That way people can speak to the organisations directly to get the most up to date information. We have had visitors who simply didn’t know what services are out there.”

They had 31 organisations at this event, such as Blind Veterans UK which offers training, equipment, rehabilitation and peer support.

"Even if we can help one person on the day it has been successful,” said David.