On Saturday 23rd March our VIC Choir performed at the Tesco's in Burnley, this is the first time we have performed there and would like to thank our VIC Choir Members, our volunteers, Tesco staff and customers.
Special thanks to Ann Barnes and Phil Chamberlain for braving the elements to man the collection buckets and to Mukhtar the Tesco Community Champion for hosting us. |
Outreach worker Steve Butterworth is now attending the monthly veterans coffee afternoon at the Newhey and Milnrow medical centre.
The practice has set this up for its veteran patients, the first session was on the 21st March. Veterans were joined by Junior Soldiers from the Army Foundation College at Harrogate. Our oldest WW2 veteran Bernard Munton had a great day talking to the soldiers. |
We are delighted to announce that we heard that we have been awarded £97,142 from Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. This will fund our three-year programme, Reach, Support Belong and Prosper.
The funding will help us to identify, reach and support those from the Armed Forces communities, supporting them to overcome individual barriers to lead fulfilling lives. The project will help to cultivate a sense of belonging and help those supported to prosper within their own localities. |
During March some of the paintings from the VIC art group members proudly saw some of their work on exhibition at the The Whitaker - Rossendale Museum and Art Gallery. Thanks to all those who attended the small opening.
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Our Crafty Chatters group have been making yellow poppies to commemorate the 80th year of the D Day Landings in Carentan, France. These will be used by the local ladies of Carentan who are making the modern equivalent of the Bayeaux Tapestry. This will consist of 80 panels depicting scenes from the landings. The poppies will be incorporated into the 101st Airborne Divisions flag aka The Screaming Eagles who liberated the town.
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On Friday 1st March one of our members Jacko Pearce attended the Re-launch of the Veterans Hub @agneshopkinscentre in Swinton. Jacko who is our Standard bearer paraded the VIC Standard at the launch.
We only got our Standard in November last year and in only a short period of time he has paraded the Standard at a number of funerals and Armed Forces events. We hope the Vererans Hub continues to grow and support the veterans and families in the area. |
On Thursday 29th February Duncan Phillips one of our members from Clitheroe and the owner of Knowle Top Gallery in Clitheroe gave a short talk at the Haslingden Centre on his most recent visit to the Arctic. He was very knowledgeable on the environment and animals he saw there. He's doing the same talk to the members of the Clitheroe outreach next week.
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On Tuesday 27th February our CEO Amanda Walton and Ops Manager Bob Elliott paid a visit the Veterans Support Centre in Warrington. Their Centre is in the middle of a park and offers so much for the local veteran and the wider community. To say we were impressed is an understatement, and even though we talk with Veterans Support Centre Warrington at lot we had no idea of the resources they have on their door step.
There is a Veterans NAFFI, Counselling Suite, a Community Hall that can be used for some many occasions including wedding, Tai Chi classes, different functions and even Regt Association meetings. The outside park area can be used for fundays, themed events, bowling and even a café that is open to the public who use the park. They also have a fleet of vans that go out into the community and will repair and maintain bikes for those in the wider community. If you live around the Warrington area then it is worth a visit and speak to the guys, it is totally volunteer led and it works. One of their current projects is to refurbish a trailer donated to them from 75 Engr Regt, once it's been finished it will be made available for other veteran groups to borrow for their outdoor events. Well done to the Sappers for once again bailing out the other Army Units...... |
On Tuesday 20th February our CEO Amanda Walton and Operations Manager Bob Elliott attended the Veterans' Places, Pathways & People (VPPP) showcase event in Wigan. It was launched in 2022 and was a two year programme across the UK.
The programme aims were to give veterans a safe and welcoming place to go in their local community, supporting veterans to access mental health support and treatment, and access to good quality training for staff and volunteers. Each of the delivery partners Armed Forces Community HQ CIC Advocacy Focus Burnley FC in the Community Fighting with Pride Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust Tom Harrison House Broughton House - Home of Salford and Greater Manchester's Veterans Veterans HQ Walking With The Wounded and VIC were funded under one of Places, Pathways and People groups. There were a number of presentations to showcase the tool kits which will be a legacy of the programme where any organisation working with veterans and the Armed Forces Community can access. We are waiting to hear about the legacy of the VPPP programme and how it will continue into the future. The North-West Portfolio was one of the stronger ones in the UK. Forces Wellbeing Collective |
On Monday 19th February we had a talk from Capt Peter (Red) Riley, ex Royal Signals, Army Air Corps, SAS and Mi6 about his book 'Kisses from Nimbus' at the VIC Centre in Haslingden. It was an audience of our members who sat in and listened to Peter.
Fascinating to listen to some of his stories, or at least what he could talk about. |
Our CEO Amanda Walton and Ops Manager Bob Elliott attended a briefing on the Greater Manchester Police Forcer Protocol pilot in Manchester on the 6th February. There were representatives from a number of services and organisations working with veterans, the pilot was only launched in November and they have already had a good success rate in finding veterans that have been reported as missing.
The Forcer Protocol is a tool used by the police to ensure key information is available to them when they are searching for service veterans who are lost or have gone missing when they return home. the Police can access much needed information from the Safe and Found Online platform. The Safe and Found Online is a free Digital Information Bank committed to Safeguarding Vulnerable People. The Safe and Found Online is part of their Missing Persons strategies, UK Police Forces are encouraging carers of vulnerable people who are a risk of going missing to compile useful information about them. This data is recorded on a form provided by the Police and can save vital time in putting together a search and rescue plan in a missing persons event. They already use this on the Herbert Protocol which is a nationwide scheme adopted by all UK police forces with the aim of reducing the risk of harm to someone living with dementia who goes missing by enabling swift access to key information that can help the police find the person more quickly. Although it is only in Greater Manchester at the moment there is a lot of interest by other Police Forces across the Country. Since November they have found 42 veterans using the Forcer Protocol. We would encourage veterans, carers of veterans, the family of anyone who are at risk of harm, a chance of going missing or likely to be in a crisis situation to be registered with the Safe and Found Online Scheme. This information could aid the Police in finding that person with a good safe outcome. https://safeandfoundonline.co.uk/index.html |
We opened the VIC Centre on Sunday 4th February to welcome Netty and Mandy from the Ring Of Red (Manchester)team. They donated a cheque for £5,000 to VIC to support projects and activities for veterans across the different service areas including the art group, the allotment and the model railway club.
And, going forward, VIC has been selected as the Ring of Red's chosen charity. We can't thank the organisers and bikers enough for raising this fantastic amount of money. |
The Model Railway Club in Accrington has been spending, You don't get much for your money these days, just shy of £ 300.00 on the table, which prompted the famous Yorkshire battle cry "HOW MUCH" but it will sort our a good chunk of the electrical work needed to get things running by March, note they didn't say which March.
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On the 1st Feb 2024 Duncan one of our members from Clitheroe and the owner of Knowle Top Gallery in Clitheroe gave a short talk at the VIC Centre in Haslingden, the talk was of his most recent visit to Southern Africa where he photographed many beautiful wild life scenes. Duncan and his wife regularly get commissioned by the National Geographical Magazine.
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Great day running another painting in the style of Bob Ross class on the 27th January. Thanks to all those who attended. They were all great paintings and good to see that although they were the same project how different each one was from the other. So much more was learnt today. Hope you all enjoyed it and thanks again for your continued support.
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A huge thank you to James Mcauley for the stand for our new VIC standard. Proudly on display in the entrance to the VIC centre in Haslingden.
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We heard some sad news on Friday 12th January that Vinny Haughton, one of the members of the Sandbag Café in Heywood passed away on Friday 12th January.
Vinny joined the Sandbag Café in 2018 and was a regular at the Café. He joined the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME) during National Service in 1952 and was a discharged in 1954. Our condolences are with the family and his friends at this difficult time. RIP Vinny |
On Thursday 11th January VIC members and serving soldiers of the REME paid their respects on the final journey to WW2 veteran Jack Riley at Accrington Crematorium. One of the original members of the REME when they were formed in 1942.
RIP Jack you can stand down now your duty is done. Pictures by Catherine Smyth and Bernard Tighe. |
A huge thank you to James Mcauley for the stand for our new VIC standard. Proudly on display in the entrance to the VIC centre in Haslingden.
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