A locally run veteran charity has teamed up with North East author to publish an anthology of Armed Forces stories, portraying the courageous and emotional voices of veterans.
Operation Veteran is a community interest company aimed at helping veterans transition from the Armed Forces to Civvy Street. Set up by Jim Owens in 2016 and located on Nile Street in North Shields, Operation Veteran provides a safe space for veterans to meet, share experiences and support each other.
Earlier this year Jim secured funding from the National Lottery’s Platinum Jubilee Fund to commission Write on the Tyne, a community interest company run by author Helen Aitchison with the aim of making creative writing and expression inclusive to all in their community, to work with local veterans to produce an anthology of stories and photos titled Veterans' Voices.
Following the launch of Veterans' Voices this week, Jim said: “Having the opportunity to work with Write on the Tyne to gather the personal stories of our local veterans through the medium of creative writing has been fantastic.
“Compiling Veterans' Voices has not only acted as a way of collecting memories of local service men and women to share more widely but as a means of providing therapeutic support to veterans who struggle with their mental health, physical symptoms and social dysfunction from their time in service. It has helped them stay motivated and express their emotions.”
Helen Aitchison, Director of Write on the Tyne, said: “It has been an absolute privilege to help document the stories of local veterans, and has been a very emotional experience at times.
“Over 12-weeks I worked alongside Operation Veteran to support individuals to organise their thoughts, process emotions and encouraged them to choose their words, metaphors and images in a way that really captures and communicates something that veterans often feel are too complicated or difficult to talk about directly. The published stories will be a lasting legacy to veterans in the North East.”
Both Operation Veteran and Write on the Tyne have worked with North Tyneside Business Factory, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, over the past months and years to access professional social enterprise advice and funding, including the Platinum Jubilee Fund for this project.
Toni Clark, Social Enterprise Advisor at The Business Factory, added: “It’s been wonderful guiding both these businesses over the years, and seeing them flourish. It’s even more wonderful to see them working together to create something that has benefitted a whole community and will act as a lasting legacy to veterans living in North Tyneside and the wider region.”
Veterans Voices' is available to purchase in paperback and e-book from: www.books2read.com/veteransvoices. All profits go to the community interest company’s involved, going back to the people in their community.
