Charity boss 'gutted' as veterans' village shelved

Paul Matson said the charity would focus on helping people in the "here and now"

The boss of a charity which supports ex-service personnel said he was "gutted" plans for a veterans' village near Hull were shelved.

The development in Cottingham aimed to help veterans transition to civilian life.

But spiralling costs and high demand for other services meant the project was no longer viable, chief executive Paul Matson said.

Mr Matson, a veteran himself, said: "It would be very difficult to raise that amount of money to kickstart the veterans' village, and be safe in the knowledge that we would complete."

The Cottingham project aimed to help ex-service personnel with the transition to civilian life.

The idea of creating a community for veterans leaving the armed forces, along with training and support facilities, was granted planning permission in 2020, with an estimated development cost of £8m.

However, a review by charity trustees in June found the project now had an estimated cost of between £17m and £20m.

The review also cited changes in "operational priorities" as demand increased for other services provided by the charity.

Mr Matson said: "At the time [the idea was conceived] we felt it was very needed to help prevent the kind of things we were seeing - people who had left the forces who were struggling and couldn't quite find their way in life."

However, Mr Matson said the charity was now seeing a lot more people coming for help.

"We really need to concentrate on what's here and now," Mr Matson added.

The charity has to date helped about 5,000 veterans, and supported 25 people out of homelessness this year, according to Mr Matson.

It was currently renovating a house to provide temporary accommodation for homeless veterans.

Anyone who had donated funds for the veterans' village could have their money returned, donated to another cause, or directed to fund other services at Hull4Heroes, Mr Matson added.

The Charity Commission said it was "assessing concerns raised in the media about funding for a planned veterans' village by Hull4Heroes which is no longer going ahead".

A spokesperson for the group which regulates charities in England and Wales added: "Our assessment will determine if there is a role for us"

'Very sad'

People attending the Beverley Armed Forces Day on Sunday voiced their support for project.

"It [the veterans' village] should be fought for," one woman said.

Another person said: "People expected it to come to fruition - it's very sad - these people need help."

One ex-serviceman added: "There are some people who need a lot of help and they can't get it living in [the community], but in a village like that they've got help all the time."

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

Click here, to download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Click here, to download the BBC News app from Google Play for Android devices.