Veterans honoured for community support

Ex-military from across East Kent gathered in Canterbury for the inaugural Veterans Recognition Awards.

A dozen former servicemen and women from Thanet and the Canterbury district were praised for their support of fellow veterans and the wider community at an event staged by East Kent Mind.

The mental health charity is a leading supporter of the veteran community delivering a range of wellbeing support to ex-military, adult family members and reservists.

The awards event incorporated a Veterans Information Fair with a dozen organisations that deliver either professional or social support to ex-military having information stands. This together with a refreshment area provided an informative social space for veterans to meet and chat once the awards element concluded.

Event host Simon Dolby from East Kent Mind

Simon Dolby, East Kent Mind Development Lead, said: “We are delighted this pilot event was so well received by the ex-military community and hope it can grow and develop in the future. I would like to thank the Lord Mayor of Canterbury for her support and to the Veterans Foundation for assisting us today.”

Karen Brinkman, Armed Forces Connector at East Kent Mind, said: “The Veterans Information Fair and Recognition Awards aim to bring together veterans and their families with organisations that provide vital information on available help and services. Held at the historic St Peter’s Anglican Church in Canterbury, this event not only celebrates the invaluable contributions of veterans within their communities but also fosters a sense of camaraderie and support.

The organisations taking information stands were: RAF Benevolent Fund, Spring Lane Veteran Hub, One You Kent – NHS, RBLI lifeworks, Ramsgate Armed Forces & Veterans breakfast club, DWP, Refer Kent, East Kent Mind, Ramsgate British Legion, Walking with the Wounded.

To find out more visit www.eastkentmind.org.uk/veterans

Award winners

Colin Powell

Colin is Chairman of the Royal Naval Association Ramsgate and a member of the Ramsgate Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club – he is a champion of both organisations. He organises social events and branch meetings for the association and works with the town council to organise the annual Armed Forces Day Parade.

As there are only a few branches of the Royal Naval Branches left in the UK he often hosts Naval Veterans from other areas of the UK at short notice and gives them a very warm welcome.

He organises events with the Ramsgate Twinning Association including the recent visit by the Royal Naval Association to Ramsgate’s twin-French town Con-Flons Sont Onorine (Conflans Sainte Honorine) which celebrates the festival known as the Pardon, held to honour who gave their lives in the two World Wars.

Not only did he organise the visit but he also drove the minibus there and back. He and other members of the Branch and club, maintain and provide a lovely intimate social area and bar which is kept in pristine condition. Very well done.

David Murray

David from the Ramsgate Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club is the first one to arrive on most meeting days. He is one of the original founder members of the club since its launch six years ago.

Nothing is too much trouble for David – humping round tables briefing organisers on veteran matters he is aware of locally. One example was David raising the issue of the deterioration of local Alms Houses and that many were empty. This information has led to a plan for Thanet Council to modernise the properties to use for veterans the vulnerable elderly.

David is visiting regularly a new member of the club who needs help around the house and garden.

He is a regular supporter of veterans events that take place locally and encourages and motivates others to attend who probably would not do so without his support and encouragement.

Kevin Hobbs

Kevin has been nominated for his exceptional dedication and selflessness as the lead administrator of the Ramsgate Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club.

His warm and sincere welcome to new members, his unwavering open-door policy, and his deep commitment to supporting veterans make him stand out as one of the most kind-hearted and committed volunteers. Despite working full-time here at the Cathedral and often managing the club after night shifts, Kevin never lets anyone down.

Kevin has effectively used multiple communication strategies to keep everyone informed, regardless of their access to technology. Kevin’s efforts to foster inclusivity and equality among veterans from all services and ranks have been instrumental in creating a supportive community.

His collaboration with local organisations and his ability to build strong relationships have further enhanced the support network available to veterans. Kevin’s dedication and genuine care for others have made a significant impact.

Jan Gibbs

Jan is a key member of the Ramsgate Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club. She contributes greatly to the ambience of the club by getting around and talking to everyone, seems to pay particular attention to our elders and any new members and helps engage with anyone who may seem a bit quiet and not quite enjoying themselves, to bring a smile to their face.

Jan is a brilliant people person and a brilliant ambassador and all our members just love being around her. She has been very supportive in the club aims to provide a safe and welcoming environment avoiding isolation for our members.

Richard Morgan

Richard, set up the Thanet Armed Forces Veterans Hub over two years ago – supported by funding from Kent Arts and Wellbeing. He went through the arduous tasks to get it registered with the Association of Drop-in Centres. He now organises creative activities and trips for veterans.

The nominator says that Richard provided personal support to him when a family member’s mental health put pressure on the family and that this was part of the catalyst for setting up the hub – something the nominator says touched his heart.

There are strong links between the hub and the Ramsgate Breakfast Club which signposts veterans there for support.

His work on the Thanet Armed Forces/Civilian Network partnership has been groundbreaking and a shining example of how it ‘should be done’ to Thanet District Council and the Armed Forces Covenant Lead and is likely to be duplicated in other areas.

Angie Sutton

Angie Sutton is retiring from her managerial role at the Veterans Association in Birchington where she has gone above and beyond what was expected and required. She has led from the front to make the Veterans Association Charity a success and has also been a major player in assisting Karen Brinkman with setting up the Female Veterans Group.

Angie came out of retirement to work at The Veterans Association in Birchington and has been instrumental in making the hub a warm, friendly and welcoming environment for everyone who visits. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience which has been fundamental in enabling us to help Veterans all across the country with homelessness, employment and many other issues. Angie has organised trips for the members of the hub always ensuring anyone with mobility issues has had the support they need to be able to join.

Angie is an advocate for those that cannot speak for themselves and will make sure that any problems are followed up and sorted out. Angie is about to retire again and will be missed by everyone at The Veterans Association. Very well done.

Barbara Munns

Barbara is the Armed Forces Champion at Canterbury City Council and the organiser of the Spring Lane Veterans Hub. She is the rock that much of the work with the ex-military community is built upon.

Brilliant at networking and bringing together partnerships to expand reach and awareness.

She is welcoming, supportive and encouraging to ex-military and their families. Her monthly Saturday morning meet-ups at Spring Lane Neighbourhood Centre are extremely well attended.

And following her hard work and dedication Canterbury City Council has won the Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award – the Ministry of Defence’s highest badge of honour in recognition of supporting the Armed Forces community.

Her nominator summed up Barbara’s contribution perfectly by saying: “When it comes veterans – she makes things happen. She is most definitely the glue that binds the veteran community together here in Canterbury.”

Eric Hearn

Eric is a member of the Spring Lane Veterans Hub in Canterbury and supports the hub in many ways, not least through his passion for gardening. Along with his wife Lynda, he tends the veteran hub’s garden weekly by weeding, pruning, and planting.

Recently Eric has been supporting a group of young people who attend sessions at the centre and is helping them to plant fruit and vegetables from seed and planning a stall as an upcoming fundraiser where they will sell the produce they grow.

He has shown young people that gardening can be fun and helps add a multi-generational element to the hub.

Eric is always happy to help with anything that comes his way – every hub needs an Eric!

Toby Williams

Toby is from Canterbury and has been nominated by Walking With the Wounded who are delighted with the positive steps he is making in his life.

When the team first started working with Toby he was feeling quite socially isolated, he was struggling to cope with mental and personal issues and had reached out to Walking With The Wounded for help navigating through this challenging period in his life.

Today Toby is putting his artistic and musical skills to good use and helping others. This year Toby has been volunteering at Dover Road Baptist Church food bank, as well as making dog leads and collars, selling them and donating the proceeds to the food bank. In addition, he has held some community crafting sessions there.

Currently Toby has three pieces of artwork he created on display at a veteran exhibition in St. Pancras hospital, he has pledged to donate any monies received from the sale to the three military charities that have supported him which are Walking With The Wounded, The Poppy Factory and Help for Heroes. Very well done.

John Elson

John Elson receives his award from the Lord Mayor of Canterbury, Cllr Jean Butcher

John is a member of Spring Lane Veterans Hub and is part of a group of enthusiastic and committed volunteers who create activities for the group – One of John’s specialties is his quiz events. They are always fun and bring the group together so well.

John is currently organising a fundraising event for the hub in August. He has worked hard promoting the group to local businesses which in turn have donated prizes for a raffle.

He has worked with his wife Sue in organising a tombola for the event and without his help the hub couldn’t do half of what it delivers.

Jan Edis

Jan is the President of the Canterbury branch of the Royal British Legion and also a very enthusiastic member of the Spring Lane Veterans Hub. She supported getting the hub up and running; promoting it to her Veteran contacts.

She has shared her knowledge and expertise of working with SAAFA with hub members which has helped a number of ex-military receive support. Jan has also promoted the Armed Forces Covenant to local businesses to get them to sign up and support our Forces. She works tirelessly behind the scenes supporting Veterans whenever it is needed.

Mel Cooper

Mel is the Armed Forces Champion at the DWP and that places her in a unique position to help veterans across the county – ensuring veterans receive all the monetary support they are entitled to.

She also gives up a lot of her free time in order to carry on her work and is truly dedicated. Our nominator says they have messaged Mel in the evenings to alert to a veteran in need. Mel calls the veteran and has organised a benefit check within a day.

And she gives up her time to attend meetings of the local Armed Forces/Civilian Network and was part of the working group on employment and education on the forward-thinking strategy recently presented to Thanet District Council.