Haverhill Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club sees a record number attend as its growth continues

It was conceived as a place where armed forces veterans could meet once a month and socialise but a breakfast club in Haverhill has evolved into a source of wider support for its growing membership.

Last Sunday’s meeting at Nine Jars, in High Street, of the Haverhill Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club marked the second anniversary since it was launched by Steve Gibson.

To mark the occasion, the mayor of Haverhill, Cllr David Smith, was a guest of honour at the club, which was holding its first meeting at its new venue since switching from Starburger, which it had outgrown due to rising numbers attending.

Steve, who was in the Grenadier Guards from 1986 to 1999 and after a two year break from the Army then served in the Military Provost Guard Service until 2015, explained how it all began.

“I came up with the idea of starting an ex armed forces breakfast club and reached out to someone who had started another breakfast club 15 years ago and they asked if I wanted to come under the umbrella of the Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club and I said okay.

“There’s one in Clare, Sudbury, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich, there are clubs out there everywhere but Haverhill didn’t have anything, so I thought let’s start up a breakfast club, not thinking much would come of it but since that day there’s people joining it all the time.”

The club has grown and Sunday’s meeting was its biggest yet, with almost 40 people attending.

Steve, who has three teenage daughters and lives in Weston Colville, is also able to help members by putting them in touch with services offering support to ex armed forces.

One member’s husband, explained Steve, suffers from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), so he was able to put them in touch with the Outside the Wire support group.

But members can be linked up other organisations, such as Help for Heroes, the Royal British Legion, the Veterans Foundation, or associations for ex Royal Navy or RAF personnel, for example.

Once every year, Steve also does a collection of clothing and other essentials that he then takes to Winter Comfort, a centre for the homeless in Cambridge.

Steve also emphasised that the club, which meets from 10am to midday on the first Sunday of each month, is open to members of the emergency services. Those that attend are also welcome to take partners and children.

To contact Steve, go to the Haverhill Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club page on Facebook.