Veterans speak out amid concerns Veterans Hub could shut

The team at the Veterans Hub on Portland Road fear that the hub could close ‘any week,’ due to a lack of funding, leaving the service users concerned that ‘they won’t have a place to go.’

Phil Hanley, a veteran, moved to Weymouth ‘just under a year ago’ with his wife and has problems with his heart and spine, which he described as ‘life changing.’

I was going down a black hole."

He said: “We have no friends or family here, there was no support when we came down here until we heard about the Veterans Hub, which is when I went to speak to Andy.

“I was going down a black hole and was on the brink of suicide to be honest. The contacts and support that I have had really helped me – They have been absolutely brilliant, especially with my mental health.

“I have made a few friends here; the community is brilliant. I can’t express how I feel, what this actually gives you and what it has done for me. It’s just so important that this carries on. They do such a superb job.”

The team at the hub has also supported Phil’s wife, who he described as ‘quite shy.’

He said: "She’s seen me rolling around in agony on the floor," adding that this 'must have been really scary' for her.

Phil Hanley (Image: Andy Price)

Simon Cooper is another veteran who found the hub ‘in March last year.

If it wasn’t for this place, I would be six feet under."

He explained how the service has helped him turn his life around and provide him with ‘a family where everyone looks out for everyone.’

Simon said: “I suffer with complex PTSD, and it took me 10 years to come to terms with the fact that I might need help.

“My family broke down and I can see now what I put my family through, and I have to live with that.

“I came in and sat at the table and Andy was the first person that I spoke to.

"They run a pay-it-forward scheme at the hub, and I had a brew and something to eat. A lot of people were sat there and said to me ‘you don’t have to talk but come and join us.’

“It feels like being back in my regiment with my brothers. My mental health is on track and if it wasn’t for this place, I would be six feet under. I have gone from shutting myself away and not going out at all to running the café on a Saturday.”

Simon has made lifelong friends at the hub, saying that ‘without this place there are going to be people that won’t be here anymore.’

Phil agreed, adding: “Without this place a lot of people’s lives are really going to be affected. This place affects so many people in a really positive way.”

Another veteran who has benefited from the service is Paul, who because of the hub is going to become a mentor for people who were in a similar situation to the one he was once in and is currently training to become a mental health practitioner.

I would be sat at home with the curtains closed, the door locked, the TV off, just sat there with my demons."

He said that if the Veteran’s Hub was to face closure that he ‘would be sat at home with the curtains closed, the door locked, the TV off, just sat there with his demons.’

However, he explained that when he is ‘sat in the café, his demons don’t get to him.’

Paul said: “If this place was to close, I won’t have a place to go. I won’t have a meeting place for friends. We are all friends here; we are all family.

“Talking about the fact that the hub may not be here next week is like talking about a brother or sister not being here next week.”

Simon added: “I find it hard to go into places where there are a lot of people. I would be in a blind panic. We know that we can come here and it’s a safe space. Our motto is ‘together we are stronger.’

“I helped out with the Christmas dinner and spent Christmas Day at the hub because I couldn't be with my family, I could do something good for everyone else. I am a completely different person now.”

Paul (Image: Andy Price)

If you would like to donate to the Veteran’s Hub, visit: https://donorbox.org/donate-now-help-us-to-keep-on-helping.