Community wellbeing event for Armed Forces

CROWTHORNE Community Fire Station will be hosting an event for Armed Forces veterans next month, as part of an ongoing series of community events to support ex-servicemen and women.

Veterans are invited to attend the Armed Forces Veterans’ Hub to speak to organisations and charities that can offer them support.

In attendance will be groups such as Operation Courage – the NHS service that offers specialist care to veterans in a mental health crisis – as well as the Royal

Air Force Benevolent Fund,

The Armed Forces Charity and the Royal Navy Association.

The Armed Forces

Veterans’ Hub was launched in the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2020, following receipt of the

Gold Award in the Ministry of Defence’s Employer Recognition Scheme, affirming the Fire Authority and Service’s ongoing commitment to the Armed Forces community.

For the past two years, Armed Forces Veterans’ Hub

Events have also taken place at Whitley Wood Fire Station, Crowthorne Community Fire Station and Maidenhead Fire Station.

Veteran and Crowthorne resident Paul Brooks is now the RBFRS’ Head of Assets and Armed Forces champion, and says he is ‘delighted’ to be supporting this latest event.

“This will offer a space for veterans to come together and meet one another, as well as the wonderful organisations who will be there,” he said. “As a Service, we are committed to supporting our Armed Forces community and placing our fire stations at the heart of the local community they serve.

“Hosting the Hub meeting is just one of the ways we are fulfilling both commitments, while also meeting some fantastic new people along the way.”

The Armed Forces Veterans’ Hub will be held at Crowthorne Community Fire Station from 10am to 1pm on Tuesday, May 14. It is open to all veterans, and there is no need to book in advance.