Free tickets are available for veterans to attend an annual afternoon tea in Kendal designed to promote friendship and support among ex-service personnel.
The sixth Cumbrian Veterans Afternoon Tea will be held at the Castle Green Hotel on Wednesday 21 October. The event is organised by The Michelle Jurd Memorial Trust, which says the gathering is particularly popular with veterans, their partners and carers.
An opportunity to meet other veterans
Neil Jurd, who established the trust in memory of his late wife, said guests would be welcomed with tea and cakes, with a bar and entertainment also planned. He said the main benefit was giving veterans the opportunity to meet others from the area whom they might not otherwise meet.
“They are welcomed with tea and cakes. There is a bar and entertainment. But the main benefit is the chance to meet other veterans from around the area they might not otherwise meet.”
Michelle Jurd was an RAF officer who died aged 41 in a collision on the A590 in 2009. She was the first female officer to qualify as a navigator on Puma aircraft and served in Iraq, Kosova and Northern Ireland.
Charity seeking new corporate sponsors
The trust was set up a year after Mrs Jurd’s death and has raised more than £250,000. Its work has enabled more than 20,000 schoolchildren across the North West to take part in outdoor activities, while also providing grants to service charities.
Previous fundraising events have included balls, sponsored walks, cocktail parties and a treasure-hunt-style search for decorated ducks. The charity is now seeking new corporate sponsors to help fund its work.
Neil Jurd said companies contributing, perhaps £1,000 a year, could be confident that every penny would go towards one of two causes supported by the trust.
Veterans can request tickets, while businesses interested in sponsorship can contact the trust’s chair, Dr Brian Gregory, at [email protected].
