A LIFELINE centre for ex-Armed Forces personnel is at crisis point due to a lack of funding support.

Volunteers Scott Hawtrey and Cait Smith said they would do everything in their power to keep Bolton Armed Forces Centre for Veterans open.

But they have made a desperate appeal for financial support.

The engaged couple, who are both veterans, have helped more than 140 ex-military men and women since opening the centre just two years ago.

They have also injected more than £70,000 of their own money into providing the service — a cost which they say has ‘almost killed them’.

Scott, aged 48, shared how last Sunday the situation brought him close to suicide.

He said: “I do not remember it at all. I felt angry and I didn’t know why. I sent a text to my best mate telling him I was in a very dark place.

“There is no good news walks through our door — only good news walks out the door.

“You can’t take a break because people’s lives depend on it.

“I think it was the stress of it all. I have always been very financially sound and the pressure that it was putting on us financially, and the pressure with people’s problems, I was overfull.”

Cait, aged 46 who was in the Royal Signals, said they knew of between seven and 10 people who have committed suicide across Lancashire over the past two months and described the situation as ‘their reality’.

She said: “Last weekend was horrible. Scott was not in a good place.

“This is why our job is not 9 to 5. People have a crisis at 2am in the morning. We open six days a week. This centre is somewhere people can go and know there will be someone who they can talk to.”

Veteran Barry Bickard, aged 58, came to the centre for support in August 2016, before it had even opened.

He said: "What have I not had from this couple is more the point.

"I was sofa surfing, living rough for a while. They got me accommodation, helped me out with furniture. They gave me my self esteem back, picked me up.

"I was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in November last year and these two have been with me every step of the way.

"I do not know where I would be without this centre."

Scott has started another business, Taylor Shaw Solutions Ltd, to keep the centre and family afloat but the couple said they are ‘scraping by’.

Scott said: “Our personal funds are depleted. We have asked various agencies for help and there is no money available.

“It got to a point where we did not have funds to pay for our own bills let alone running the centre. We are scraping by.”

Cait, who is formerly of Harwood, added: “We receive referrals from several agencies — the NHS, the prison service, the police, Bolton Council — everybody needs us — but we need funding to provide this support, to keep our training updated, to keep ourselves afloat.”

A total of £18,000 has been given by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust since September 2016 but other finances have had to be fundraised.

A council spokesman said: “The sacrifice and work of our Armed Forces is hugely important and the centre is just one of a number of veterans organisations that we work alongside.

“We provide the Armed Forces Centre with free accommodation and we have also covered related charges for them.

“An £18k Armed covenant grant was administered to them by the council and just this year we allocated them a further £8k to help them meet revenue costs. Additional help such as providing Christmas dinners and office equipment has also been given.

“Our partners, Bolton CVS, have been assisting the centre to apply for charitable status which will open further funding streams for the centre, if successful.

“The centre was set up as a voluntary organisation but it is understood that the two volunteers now require a wage in order to run the centre.

“The council is not able to provide funding for this purpose but we have encouraged and helped the two volunteers to seek funding for their employment through other channels available.”

An online auction, which was launched on Wednesday night to raise urgent funds, has already brought in a vital £1,200.

But the couple have called on Bolton businesses to rally round them.

Anyone who is able to help should call the centre on 01204 776628.

To donate visit www.gofundme.com/bafc4v.