Chelsea Pensioners welcomed to St Helens Town Hall as part of outreach programme

Article date: 19 July 2024

Dressed in their distinctive scarlet jackets, the group treated a room full of veterans - including local World War II heroes Gerald Anders,102, and 99-year-old Eric Radcliffe - from St Helens Borough and the wider Liverpool City Region area, many of whom don't often get the chance to attend social events, to a singalong as part of music therapy, before sitting down for lunch and a chat with comrades over a cup of tea about old times while serving for their country.

Explaining the purpose of the visit, Jonny Lowe MBE, a retired Lieutenant Colonel who is now head of veterans outreach for the Royal Hospital Chelsea, said: "Our outreach programme started in 2022 as way of introducing veterans from the Royal Hospital Chelsea to the wider armed forces community.

"Places in the North West like St Helens are veteran-rich areas so we knew we'd get a warm welcome here as it's very pro veteran place.

"We've got a really good core of support here from the council and the local Armed Forces groups which has given us something to work with as we look to further develop links with disconnected veterans."

Among the local veterans in attendance was 87-year-old Owen Coker who served out in the Pacific on Christmas Island as part of Operation Grapple in 1957 - a set of four series of British nuclear weapons tests of early atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs.

Owen, who received his medal for serving out in the Pacific earlier this year, said: "I've got to be honest, it's a pleasure to be with people, the same age as me and even older, who are still going strong, still able to get about, to talk and go on days out to events like this and mix with fellow veterans to share our stories."

Councillor Lynn Clarke, St Helens Borough Council's Armed Forces Champion said: "As part of my role as Armed Forces Champion for the council, I have had the great honour of being in the company of so many remarkable people from our borough who have put their lives on the line for our freedom - so it was a privilege to welcome the group of Chelsea Pensioners to the town hall and seeing them socialise with fellow veterans, showing that it doesn't matter how far apart they live from each other, they are close in the sense that they share so much in common.

"Events like this are a great way of connecting and recognising the achievements of veterans, something we as a council are committed to ensuring."

For information on what support is on offer for the Armed Forces community in St Helens Borough, visit: https://sthelens.gov.uk/article/1689/Local-Armed-Forces-support