New breakfast club for military veterans opens in Grantown in the Scottish Highlands

A new breakfast club for military veterans has opened in the Highlands.

Current and former members of the armed forces will meet at the Pagoda in Grantown on the third Friday of each month for a bite and a chat.

Ex-soldier Mark Strachan, who launched the project, said the breakfast club has drawn interest from as far as Inverness and even Edinburgh.

The project is designed to help combat loneliness among local veterans, many of whom have experiences of trauma.

Mark Strachan served with the military police and Royal Logistic Corps

Mark, who served with the military police and the Royal Logistic Corps, suffered multiple injuries and loss of sight in one eye after an explosion in Iraq.

Having been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said he understands what many comrades have experienced.

He said: “I’ll be arranging funding for trips out for groups of veterans to the theatre, anything like that. Anything that they’re going to enjoy, just to get them out of the house.

“I think this is going to be really positive for this community and beyond because I’ve had people today from Dufftown, Elgin, Inverness, Edinburgh.

“They’ve all heard about it, they’ve all come up here just to see what it’s all about and this is brilliant.”

The rallying call has had the blessing of all three services.

Mark suffered multiple injuries and sight loss while in Iraq

Wing Commander Beverley Cartwright said: “There are so many communities, especially communities that are quite far apart in the Highlands where we’ve got a lot of veterans, and they don’t have an opportunity to meet.

“So, to pull this together and be able to recommunicate, with the various service veterans we’ve got in the community is a fantastic idea, I think.”

Ex-submariner Paul Williams, who had travelled from Elgin, said: “You meet people and if you’ve got problems you can talk. And with things like (armed forces charity) SSAFA and Help for Heroes, they give you professional advice if you’re looking for it.

“It’s a great thing once a month or so to meet people and just have a general chat and a good laugh.”

The breakfast club is available on the third Friday of each month.

Subsidised meals are offered for veterans on lower incomes.