Charity buys house to support homeless veterans

A military charity supporting homeless veterans in South Yorkshire has opened their first residential property.

Help 4 Homeless Veterans purchased the property, which is named after its founder Tom Wood, in Rotherham in February and it will provide short-term emergency housing for four homeless veterans.

The charity launched a Buy a Brick campaign to raise funds to purchase the £147,000 house and said it expects to welcome the first veterans from the 12 June.

Steve Bentham-Bates, the organisation's chief executive officer, said while they had previously used hotels to support veterans until they could "move forward" it was expensive.

"So, in future rather than paying out hotel bills we've now managed to buy our own house," he said.

Help 4 Homeless Veterans have assisted over 1,000 ex service personnel with their housing problems since they launched in 2010.

The organisation said it "takes pride" in avoiding "layers of management and bureaucracy" and were awarded a Queen's Award in 2020 for voluntary service.

The plan now is that the four-bed property on Station Road will provide temporary accommodation for veterans for a maximum of four weeks until they can "get back on their feet".

Bentham-Bates, 70, who left the RAF in 1996, said the accommodation was a "stepping stone".

"We've supported guys of all ages from 20 to 73 and we've had them from every war that we've been involved with since Northern Ireland."

He said they had been able to help veterans who had served in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falklands.

"It's nearly always men, it's a relationship breakdown and they end up having to leave the family home they've run out of sofas to surf with their friends.

"We anticipate being able to move veterans onto somewhere of their own within a month and we'll help them financially make that step forward. So, they won't be charged rent, they're here as our guests".

The names of those who donated to the project through the Buy a Brick campaign will feature in a roll of honour to be displayed in Wood House.

The not-for-profit group Efficiency North worked with businesses and trades people to make the £30,000 worth of necessary repairs and refurbishments to the house.

Liz Butcher, from the group, said: "We put out a call for help and we had a fantastic response,

"There's a lot of crossovers between the construction and the armed forces."

She said many people leaving the forces join the industry and had been "only too willing to help".

Bentham-Bates said it was important to remember the "fragile" state some of the veterans might be in.

"They've served in a war zone, they've seen some of their mates killed, some of them horrifically injured, perhaps losing limbs, you imagine that yourself if you witness something so horrific it would play on your mind."

The RAF veteran is also adamant that the service they provide is appreciated.

"I helped a lad in Barnsley, who'd been sleeping in the woods," he said.

"We put him in a hotel in Barnsley and he phoned me up later on and said: 'I've just had a hot shower and washed my underwear. I feel lovely'.

"We're making a difference to people that have potentially put their lives at risk for the country."

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