New hub opens for veterans and the North Devon community

A brand new building to host a range of events for armed forces veterans and the wider community has been opened in the centre of Barnstaple.

The Veterans Depot is the latest addition to the site used by The Veterans Charity at Seven Brethren and it will be used as a hub for training or support sessions, gatherings, groups and much more.

The new building has been made possible thanks to funding from the National Lottery, the B&Q Foundation and the Devon and Cornwall Police Community Fund, as well as the hard work of numerous volunteers who gave their time and skills for free.

The Veterans Depot was officially opened on Friday (May 10) by General Sir Robert Pascoe KCB MBE, President of The Veterans Charity, joined by a variety of guests, many of whom helped make the project possible.

Above: Volunteers and supporters of The Veterans Charity at the new Veterans Depot building on Seven Brethren in Barnstaple

The building has a good-sized meeting area plus a separate kitchen, as well as state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment purchased thanks to the police donation.

The Veterans Charity provides emergency support for UK veterans of all ages, stepping in quickly to help any that have found themselves facing hardship or crisis.

The hub will help to continue that work by providing space to hold multiple different events supporting veterans such as training, support groups, presentations and more, as well as being available for hire to the wider community.

Speaking at the official opening, Sir Robert Pascoe thanked the funders for grants as well as the site landlord Richard Kingdon of Devon Fuels for his whole-hearted support of the project.

He said: “Many volunteers put in time and effort, provided materials and gave their time voluntarily - and a year since the first slab was laid, we had a very nearly complete depot. Thank you to all those volunteers, it was a great job and well done.”

Sir Robert also praised charity CEO Danny Greeno for coming up with the plan in the first place, adding: “Without Danny's initiative, inspiration and jolly hard work, this would not have happened. So Danny, well done and thank you.”

Danny added: “The hub is there to be used for whatever it needs to be used for and if it benefits North Devon and the Armed Forces community and veterans, we're more than happy to support it.

“To connect we've got to work together and what the depot is about is having a place for us all to get together and actually focus on working with lots of different departments and different parts of society.

“We've all got a duty as far as I'm concerned to understand the needs of veterans. They make up a huge part of our society and no town or village or anywhere in Britain has not been changed by the impact of people who've served.”