A group of Inverness veterans is appealing for local businesses to help them secure a new base in the city.
Ex-service personnel have been left with nowhere to turn over the last two years following the closure of their Highland welfare centre.
Poppyscotland’s Welfare Centre on Strothers Lane initially closed its doors in the wake of the pandemic.
However, officials from Royal British Legion (RBL) announced last year the service was being axed, despite a surge in demand for support.
Directors previously insisted the closure would not hamper support services in the area but enable them to reinvest the money spent on incurring costs on other popular services and deliver personalised care.
A year on however, and several veterans claim they have yet to receive even a phone call – leaving them feeling as though they have been “kicked in the teeth.”
Now a group of veterans are now turning to local businesses in their time of need to help them replace the lifeline service.
Ex-Gordon Highlander Gordon MacMillan, said finding new premises is an “urgent matter.”
He said: “We are desperate to get premises in Inverness.
‘We must get help’
“We need help from local businesses and other professionals with funding as Highland Veterans is not a charity. It’s a hub which we will be creating to help the charities for veterans.
“We need the premises so we can all share it together and so all veteran charities are under the same roof for all different parts.
“The premises are a very urgent matter. If businesses have any conscious, we must get help.
“Any help would be grateful because it has never been this bad in the Highlands. We want to keep it the way it was when the resource centre was here.”
The group is looking for base that is spacious, has disabled access and easy access to transport links.
In the meantime, the group is meeting regularly at Cafe 1668 on Church Street.
Mr MacMillan added: “We can’t thank Cafe 1668 enough for their help and support they have given us over the last year.”
Nowhere to turn in times of need
In July last year, veterans lodged a petition signed by nearly 300 people with RBL protesting the closure of the Inverness-based centre.
A demonstration was also held outside the Strothers Lane centre.
The effort failed to prompt a U-turn by bosses as they went ahead with the planned closure.
The group have previously said they feel like “forgotten veterans”.
Mr Macmillan says their current situation has set veterans back mentally “by at least three to four years.”
Chad Fraser-Hall, a former Rifleman for the Royal Green Jackets, said by not having a permanent base, they have seen a decline in communication with fellow veterans.
He said: “We are not meeting as many people as we were. There are not as many people coming to us as there was.”
Kenny Shand from Forres was left with PTSD after serving with both the Royal Engineers and Queens Own Highlanders.
In times of need, he has turned to charities such as Poppyscotland and Combat Stress; particularly for help in filling out essential paperwork.
However, with no local centre to drop into, trying to manage this over the phone has been a real challenge.
He said: “Combat Stress is my scribe for any paperwork I have. If you are needing paperwork filled out it’s all done on the phone. It’s complicated.
“If I was needing something desperate or I was having anxiety, I could come into Inverness and go to Poppyscotland and they would calm you right down.
“You could pick up the phone and say ‘I need to speak to you’ and they would say “alright, come in at this time” and you could speak to them face-to-face.
“A veteran on the streets now who is looking for something, he has nowhere to turn. He doesn’t know where to go.”
