The Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club held their monthly meeting at the O-Bridge in Taunton, where they shared their experiences and enjoyed the ‘unity’ of the Forces family.

The club is now nationwide, with breakfast meetings taking place all across the country.

The meeting is attended by veterans from Wellington, Wiveliscombe, Bishops Hull and Taunton, all with their own stories and experiences to share.

Veronica Roach and Jill Goodwin originally set up the club and were approached shortly after to join the national branch of the Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club.

Jill Goodwin (left) & Veronica Roach (right) (Courtesy of AFBC)

The Wellington Weekly went along to one such breakfast meeting and found it bustling with members of all ages and Forces backgrounds.

Veronica said: “A lot of young veterans feel lost and the older ones want to tell their stories. We treat everyone like family and watch out for each other.” Veronica was a Telephonist in the Women’s Royal Air Force for five years.

Jill Goodwin is the manager of Wivey Link and was an MT Driver in the Women’s Royal Navy service for 16 years. She served during the Falklands and Gulf wars. While in the Forces she said she made ‘friends for life’.

Steve Latchford worked in Avionic maintenance in the Royal Navy for 28 years. He said he found it ‘natural to adjust to life’ after coming out of the Navy due to having close links with the aviation industry. He said: “The unique thing about the Navy is that it doesn’t matter what generation or branch you are in, I can meet different generations and find loads in common with them.”

Steve is a rep for the British Legion Riders Club, The club assists in organising funerals for veterans without any close family or relatives. He said: “A lot of the time older veterans will pass away in care homes and may not have any close family to help organise the funeral. We turn up on our bikes and give them a proper send off.”

Claire Dungate, now a cover supervisor at Castle School was also in the Royal Navy from 1975 to 1989. She travelled the world visiting places like Gibraltar and Belfast, one of her highlights was learning to scuba dive ‘for a fiver’. She said she has always kept in contact with lots of past serving members. She was herself a Forces child, and was used to moving around a lot as a youngster. When she left, she was determined to stay in one place for her young family.

“It was a very good life, you have to say yes to everything you are offered which gave me the chance to experience everything the Navy had to offer. It teaches you to be independent and gives you confidence. Once you’ve made friends you don’t lose them. This is my fourth month at the breakfast club. Last year I marched in the Remembrance parade, which made me very emotional.”

A common topic among those at the breakfast club was the sense of unity and family no matter what Forces background you had. Ronnie said: “You could have served for one year or 30 years and that would still make you a veteran. We encourage everyone to come along for support or to share their experiences.”