The Wolverhampton Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club meets at The Bankfield Inn, Bilston, on the last Saturday of the month from 9.30am, and offers people breakfast and banter in a safe, social environment.
The ethos of the Bilston club, which was set up in 2019, is ‘mutual support’. Membership is free and all people need to pay for is their breakfast.
Councillor Craig Collingswood, chair of Wolverhampton's Armed Forces Covenant Partnership Board, attended last weekend’s club and said: “The Wolverhampton Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club is a brilliant initiative.
“It offers veterans and serving members the chance to enjoy the company of other Armed Forces personnel past and present, helps to combat loneliness and enables veterans to ‘return to the tribe’.”
The club also meets socially for regimental and association dinners, nights out, barbecues, parties, summer balls and Christmas parties. For more details, please visit Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club.
Elsewhere, Veterans in the Community runs 3 veterans’ groups in the Wolverhampton area – at Wednesfield Conservative Club on Mondays from 11am to 1pm, the RAFA Club, Goldthorn Road, on Tuesdays from 1pm to 3pm, and Lunt Community Centre, Bilston, on Wednesdays from 1pm to 3pm. All ages are welcome to attend to enjoy refreshments and good company, as well as regular events and trips.
As lead for the Armed Forces Covenant Partnership Board for the city, the City of Wolverhampton Council co-ordinates support for the Armed Forces community across Wolverhampton.
The council welcomes veterans and the wider Armed Forces community into the organisation and offers a range of supportive policies such as guaranteed interview schemes for veterans applying for job vacancies and an allowance of up to 24 days’ paid leave for reservists and adult cadet force volunteers. For details of current employment opportunities, please visit WMJobs.
Meanwhile, Armed Forces veterans in Wolverhampton can enjoy free bus travel and discounted rail travel. Travel for West Midlands is running an incentive scheme in collaboration with local bus operators enabling unlimited free travel on all buses, all day, in the Network West Midlands area for up to six months. To find out more, please email wolves.afd@wolverhampton.gov.uk.
A Veterans Railcard is also available, offering discounts on rail travel in England, Wales and Scotland. For further information please visit Veterans Railcard.
For more information about the Armed Forces Covenant, and the help and support that is available to members of the Armed Forces community in Wolverhampton, please visit Armed Forces Covenant.
