Littlehampton veterans launch community minibus with help from local housebuilder

Last October, Barratt David Wilson Homes kickstarted the LAFVBC’s fundraising for the minibus with a £4,000 donation. To celebrate the purchase of the minibus, Alex Dowling, Head of Sales and Marketing at Barratt David Wilson Southern Counties met with Ian Neville, Chair of LAFVBC, at Ryebank Gate, where they were joined by Lorraine Clode, Divisional Secretary from the Soldiers', Sailors' & Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA) and a number of local veterans.

The LAFVBC has grown rapidly over the past five years, from a smaller social group to now having over 300 members in Littlehampton and the surrounding areas, celebrating five years of the club this summer as well as being awarded the ‘gold standard’ by the Armed Forces Network. The minibus will allow the group to extend its outreach within the community, offering transport to the twice weekly group meetings, as well as for organised day trips.

Alex Dowling, head of sales and marketing at Barratt David Wilson Southern Counties, comments: “It was fantastic to meet some new and familiar faces alike at Ryebank Gate to officially launch the minibus, which will be a pivotal step forward for the club’s mobility. It has been a pleasure to support the club for nearly five years and to see how the group has grown in numbers, making sure no one is left behind in the community. We look forward to working with Ian and the team going forwards.”

The support from Barratt David Wilson Southern Counties builds on its long-standing relationship with LAFVBC, and earlier this year the housebuilder and its contractors AGL Scaffold Ltd and Woodhard Group Ltd worked with one of the charity’s members, a local veteran named Andy, to help redesign his garden.

Ian Neville, chairman of Littlehampton Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club, adds: “It is my pleasure on behalf of the Littlehampton AFVBC to say thank you to Barratt David Wilson Southern Counties and SSAFA for assisting us on our journey and hosting us today, and our gratitude also goes out to every other organisation that has enabled us to progress to where we are today. It is very easy to accept assistance with fundraising and walk away, however we believe that it is important for the local community to see that corporate assistance via CSR projects can lead to long term successes for community groups such as ours and publicising the support from businesses evidence that companies are able leave a legacy in a positive way when their job is done. Our journey as a local community group is never finished as our activities and efforts have always been driven by our demographic determining the direction we move in and we will continue to advocate for and support the local Armed Forces family as long as we are needed.”

For further information about Littlehampton Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club, call 07728 760246, email [email protected] or visit www.littlehamptonafvbc.org.uk