TWO Dorset veterans charities have been given grants from the Government amounting to £64,000 as part of an extra support package during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Veterans Hub, in Weymouth, and Future for Heroes, in Bovington, will receive £25,000 and £39,000 respectively from the Government as part of almost £6m in extra funding for charities supporting serving personnel, veterans and their families during the pandemic. The two Dorset charities are part of a group of 100 charities across the UK who will receive funding.

Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset, said: "We owe so much to our armed forces; they keep us safe in our hour of need, whether at war with an external aggressor or, as now, with a more insidious enemy.

"20,000 servicemen and women have been on standby throughout this crisis, building the Nightingale Hospitals, delivering PPE, driving ambulances, training medics and so much more. We owe them our thanks and our respect.

"I am particularly delighted that the Veterans Hub in Weymouth, which I know well, has benefited from this funding. I would like to congratulate Andy Price who runs it, and thank him for all his hard work."

Andy Price, co-founder of the Veterans Hub, said: "It is staggering and amazing. The difference the money has made straight off the cuff is incredible.

"For the next few months we have created two temporary roles specifically to support people during the pandemic. The funding has enabled us to pay for four people to go through private therapy, each with 10 sessions. They've skipped the waiting list and the therapy is very specific to their needs.

"We have also created a permanent role here for someone to come in and support people with alcohol and substance abuse issues and we've managed to support a veteran to do some personal training with our service users which has been great for everyone. We've also been able to put safety measures in place to get service users and their families back into our cafe.

"This money is an absolute godsend. We are really fortunate with the community support anyway and people have been donating and fundraising, but what this money has done for us cannot be overstated."

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