Project 360° veterans' support to expand to Caernarfon

A support centre for armed forces veterans has provided help to more than 1,500 people since it was launched in January.

Woody's Lodge, based at HMS Cambria, Sully, Vale of Glamorgan, is run by veterans with backing from help groups.

They have joined forces with charity Age Cymru in a £940,000 project to ensure older veterans receive the health and welfare support they need.

Now the plan is to extend the service to north Wales.

Jeff Horton, an honorary welfare officer with the RAF, who visits Woody's Lodge, said: "A lot of these guys have got post-traumatic stress disorder and this could be 10, 15 years after they have left the service.

"Here, these guys can come together and share some of those experiences.

"You see them over a period of weeks and months opening up and becoming more outward going and trying to understand some of these black thoughts, these dark moments."

'Difficulties coping'

Funding for the new three-year scheme, Project 360°, has come from the Aged Veterans Fund which was set up in 2015 with £30m of Libor funds generated from fines on banks.

It is being managed by Age Cymru to ensure veterans are getting the help they need with services provided by Age Alliance Wales, an umbrella organisation of 21 national groups including Action on Hearing Loss Cymru, Arthritis Care in Wales, Disability Wales and The Stroke Association Wales.

An Age Cymru spokesman said: "Project 360° aims to ensure that services provided by Age Alliance Wales members are meeting the needs of older veterans, and that the right support is given to older veterans.

"Former armed service personnel can have difficulties coping with civilian life and, in particular, accessing the health and social care they need to live a fulfilled life."

It hopes to open a unit like Woody's Lodge at Caernarfon, Gwynedd, as part of the three-year project which runs to 2020.