Poppy appeal ‘not helping county Forces veterans’

The annual poppy appeal is a key time to raise funds for the Royal British Legion (RBL). But forces veterans say not enough of this is spent supporting struggling ex-servicemen in Herefordshire.

The RBL and others “are failing in their duty to support individual veterans, preferring to get involved in high-profile events instead”, according to Matt Hellyer, who served in more than 400 missions during 25 years of service including with the SAS.

“You see that now in Hereford – they don’t go round to veterans’ houses.”

Mr Hellyer now combines his role as chief executive of Pilgrim Bandits, which helps the injured former members of the forces and emergency services, with work at a Hereford-based security firm.

“As a small charity we can show where our money goes,” he said. “The big charities can’t.”

He claimed there has been “a huge increase in suicides because veterans can’t get through to the charities”.

With a “fairly small” overall number of veterans in the country, and a “great military community” here in Herefordshire, issues with their welfare should be solvable, he said.

Yet veterans struggling with health, housing or other welfare issues have to go through a financial and physical assessment, “which can take weeks, and is getting longer”, he said.

“People don’t want to do that online, or may struggle to. You need that caseworker in front of you.”

The South Hereford Royal British Legion Club in Belmont Road “was somewhere we could meet up” – but the Legion’s only presence in the city closed nearly 20 years ago, he added.

Instead, the independent Veteran Support Centre in Widemarsh Street now “signposts people to us – though it shouldn’t be just down to us”.

Local councillor and former paratrooper Jim Kenyon said the new centre “provides a face, a signpost for help – but they have to fund themselves”.

The Legion’s annual appeal “does so well, especially in Herefordshire – but we don’t know what’s then spent here”, Coun Kenyon added.

“Even when I worked there as a co-ordinator, I couldn’t find that out.”

A spokesperson for the Legions said: “The RBL supports the Armed Forces community for life – whatever the need, whenever it’s needed.

“At any given moment, we are helping over 7,000 members of the Armed Forces community, providing expert advice and practical support.”