Troops mobilised to launch a veterans' HQ for Lancashire in Preston city centre

Organisers say there is an urgent need in the county for a central hub to support former soldiers, sailors and air force personnel coping with life on Civvy Street.

The initiative is being led by a retired Colonel who believes armed forces veterans are in desperate need of a focal point where their welfare, both physical and mental, can be provided for.

Col David Waters says it should be a place where veterans from all three services could “rekindle the spirit of being in the armed forces which, when you leave, does leave a big hole in your life and for some it can turn into desperate loneliness.”

The Colonel, who is president of the Preston and District Veterans’ Council, is on the lookout for a suitable building, centrally situated in the city, which could also house a forces’ heritage centre.

With Fulwood Barracks, which contains the Lancashire Infantry Museum, scheduled to close at the end of the decade and considered by many to be “too far out of town,” he says a more central location is required where veterans could drop in for a chat and a brew.

There have been suggestions that the Museum of Lancashire building in Stanley Street, next door to Preston prison, would make an ideal headquarters.

The museum, owned by Lancashire County Council, closed in 2016, although it still opens for organised school groups.

And the old police station in Earl Street, next door to the covered market, has also been talked about as a possible base.

“We need to act to identify, plan, organise and commission a suitable building which can accommodate and serve a broad range of veterans’ requirements,” said Col Waters looking forward into the New Year.

“One which is rooted in the community and which can give back some of the pride, tradition and qualities of our Lancashire forefathers who served in the armed forces down the generations.

“What is needed is a building, centrally located, that can serve as a Lancashire Veterans HQ and as a Military Heritage Centre.

“It needs to include meeting rooms where a range of public service providers and charities can use the interview rooms to provide services to military veterans in the community.

“It would have a drop-in centre with basic café facilities - somewhere veterans could drop-in and socialise with at least a brew and then gain access a range of services on various topics.

“It ideally would have an auditorium where military presentations on a vast array of subjects, currently only available if a long trek is made to venues in the South could be staged right here in the North West.

“And of course we would want to tempt Lancashire Infantry Museum to be at the core of a Military Heritage Centre and to properly display its ‘crown jewels’ in a fitting setting which would maximise the number of visitors.

“We would want to tell the story of the military history of the area, from the English Civil war, through the Jacobite battles, Wellington and Waterloo, the Boer War, the World Wars and the more recent conflicts of the Falklands, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, all involving sailors, soldiers and airmen and women from Lancashire.

“Veterans would no doubt wish to be involved in volunteering to man the exhibitions and bring the whole visitor experience to life.”

For it to work, Col Waters says “several key pillars of Lancashire” would have to come together in collaboration.

“The Ministry of Defence through HQ North West, Lancashire County Council, Preston City Council, the University of Central Lancashire, the military charities and local defence industry, all need to act in unison, but it is such a worthwhile cause.

“By co-locating mutually supporting activities and co-ordinating their efforts we will greatly improve the services we provide.

“We must support our veterans by turning the words in the Armed Forces Covenant into meaningful actions.

“We must learn from the past and educate the young by providing a living, breathing museum which inspires and uplifts and we must support our serving personnel by spreading the word about the standards, values and ethos that they represent throughout the world on our behalf.”

Former Scots Guards Warrant Officer Michael Nutter, who is Preston’s Parades Marshal, says a veterans’ centre is crucial to give ex-service personnel the assurance that there is something and someone there for them.

“It would give people confidence to know that they haven’t been forgotten,” he said.

“I’m 100 per cent behind the idea. It would be good for veterans to know they have got somewhere to go.

“It would be a drop-in centre where people could talk about mental health issues and just help each other out.

“But it needs to be accessible and that’s why its important we get the right location for as many veterans as possible.

“It would be a contact place for during the day or at weekends where there would always be a warm welcome and an understanding ear.

“At the moment it’s like we’ve got the soldiers, but we haven’t got the barracks.”