HEROES who have served their country are now counting on the help of the people of Bolton so that they do not have to spend the festive season alone.

Bolton Armed Forces Centre 4 Veterans which provides a lifeline to veterans - some just in their late teens to those well into retirement — is holding a Christmas meal for those from the armed forces, some who would otherwise be spending it alone.

Scott Hawtrey and Cait Smith are urging people to back the event and ‘sponsor a veteran’s Christmas Dinner’. Both have given their own money to help run the centre.

Cait, who was in the Royal Signals, said: “If it wasn’t for this meal, some of those veterans would be spending Christmas alone.

“We are holding the event on Saturday, December 23, at Yates and we are asking people to donate money and sponsor a meal.

“We have launched a Gofundme page for people to donate. We will be buying Christmas presents for them as well. There will be veterans of all ages — aged from 18 to 97 years old.”

Scott, who served in the Royal Engineers, added: “We are hoping to raise £1,600 to cover the cost of the meal and so they can also have a few drinks.

“In two days we raised £215 from friends, family and people we know and we now we need to get other people involved.”

A number of the people who will be attending the meal have also been helped by the centre after becoming homeless and now have a property. And with the help of Heroes for Hire — which trains up veterans to become skilled electricians, plumbers and other tradesmen and woman — they are now in work.

The Christmas meal follows a successful breakfast club held at Yates, where veterans can meet and talk informally to like minded people — and where Bolton Armed Centre 4 Veterans has identified those who have needed help — with heartbreaking cases including heroes sleeping rough to keep warm. Cait, who is originally from Harwood, said: “Christmas would just be another day for some of the veterans who are coming.

“They would say they are not bothered, but Christmas is meant to be special and £30 for a meal is not a lot. People can donate whatever they like, it will all make a difference. It’s about putting a smile on someone’s face who will probably have nothing this Christmas — the centre always says ‘we don’t leave anyone behind’.”

Scott added: “It shows the veterans that people do care.”

The centre, the first of its kind centre opened last September and has turned around the lives of veterans in desperate situations, including at risk of taking their own lives. They have also provided shoes so a veteran could take part in a remembrance parade.

And last Christmas Eve the two received a call from a veteran whose benefits had been stopped and no money to buy presents for his son. They went out and bought presents in time for Christmas day and helped the veteran back in work.

The veterans centre is in Ashburner Street, opposite Bolton Market. To sponsor a meal visit gofundme.com/bafc4v-org