Veterans Village appeal hoping to fund hero’s homes
PROPERTIES WILL HOUSE VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES
THE UK’S first Veterans Village will house veterans and their families in homes built on the generosity of Hull and East Riding residents and businesses.
A new campaign to generate sponsorship for the building of the properties, at an average cost of £60,000, has just been launched, encouraging the region’s small businesses to get in on the act.
It follows a fundraising initiative that has seen local people popping their small change into little cardboard houses, provided by the charity, to help pay for the first house in the Veterans Village, an endeavour that has been supported by celebrities including Nick Knowles and Linda Barker.
Paul Matson, founder of Hull 4 Heroes, the charity behind Hull’s Veterans Village, said the pennies placed in the boxes had already totted up to £10,000 since they were first issued in November.
Now, he is hoping to encourage 120 small companies to leave their own legacy by putting in £500 towards the development of the village, a self-sustaining community that will provide transitional housing, training and support for ex-service personnel.
“We only started the over the weekend and it flying,” said Paul.
“It has been amazing. Quite a number of small businesses have already taken it on board, including builders, carpet fitters, shops and, this morning we heard from a campaign is already physical therapist who wants to put his name to it.”
Participating businesses will get their logo and details included in a welcome pack booklet that will be placed in a house for a veteran and their families to cherish.
A mural will be also be put on one of the walls in the house, with pictures of the build, the people involved and all the company logos.
Those who want to donate more can, receiving a bigger portion of the mural, more content in the welcome pack and a larger logo on a rolling promotion video in the village’s training and support/ community facility, or simply spread the donation across other houses to help more veterans and their families.
Local people who want to leave their legacy will also be recognised in a similar way on the development.
Paul said: “Jason Helas, who is originally from Hull and a long-time supporter of Hull 4 Heroes, immediately got in touch about the sponsorship campaign.
“Jason served in the British Army with the Light Dragoons for ten years and wanted his company, JDT Utilities, to be involved in this amazing project.
“They have pledged the full £60,000 to sponsor the build of a life-changing home for a veteran.
“Our pledge in return is to give Jason and his company an everlasting legacy in the Veterans Village by naming the house after his company.”
The Veterans Village, a 48-home complex off Priory Road, Cottingham, has been approved by both East Riding and Hull City Councils and work on the two-year project is due to start in August.
“It’s been really hard work, it’s taken four years to come to fruition, but now I’m living and seeing the dream,” said Paul. “The people of Hull and the East Riding are wonderful.”
For more information on how your business can be involved in the Veterans Village, email events@ hull4heroes.org.uk
TRIBFEST Music Festival has been given the green light for summer 2021.
The popular Driffield event was sadly cancelled last year due to the ongoing lockdowns and coronavirus restrictions.
Regular attendees were devastated, but organisers confirmed following Monday evening’s announcement from PM Boris Johnson, that tickets are available for the August festival.
Eager festival gooers have already started buying tickets ahead of the event, but organisers say while it may be apprehensive to return to normal life, they are ensuring maximum safety.
As an event organiser putting on a large-scale event such as Tribfest is “what it’s all about” says Ed Faulkner but he understands the added pressures that are coming with it for this summer.
Ed Faulkner, organiser of the Tribfest Music Festival said: “The safety of our event goers is absolutely paramount and to be honest it’s what keeps me awake most nights.’
“The team are planning for all eventualities, but with such a limited budget due to almost no new ticket sales over the past year it is really hard.
“We want people to come to Tribfest and feel as safe as they do every year so we will be following all government guidance and investing in whatever infrastructures we need to. Ed wants to ensure people that Tribfest will still be a fantastic event this summer and he does not want people to turn up and be let down.
He added: “We are determined as a festival to better ourselves every year and 2021 is no exception. know how important is to our customers
We are determined as a festival to better ourselves every year and 2021 is no exception Ed Faulkner
“We festival our and therefore we will do everything that we can to ensure a safe and enjoyable Tribfest 2021.”
Tribfest is one of the jewels in the crown of Yorkshire music events and has been voted Best Entertainment and Leisure Venue in East Yorkshire 2018 - 2020 (Best Bar None Awards) and finalist for Remarkable Tourism Event of the Year in 2018 and 2019 in the annual REYTA awards.
A lot of festivals have publicly folded over the past year with many falling through the cracks of the government funding.
The Tribfest team have made an application to Arts Council for the Culture Recovery fund, but are otherwise relying on customer support to built the festival back up. ■ For more information and tickets, visit www.tribfest.co.uk/news