Forces breakfast club set to launch

The aim is to offer for veterans and serving members of the Armed Forces a place to gather, to chat over a meal with like-minded people.

Café 72 owner Gary Hughesdon has offered the use of his bistro for the club, which will launch on Saturday, February 10, at 10am.

He said: “The space at the back of the café is not used to its full potential during the day, so I have been looking for something like this.

“It is a great space and I want to give something back to the town. I am patriotic and I do think the Armed Forces get forgotten. They do make the ultimate sacrifice.”

Littlehampton Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club will be open to all military personnel, including reserves, and their families.

Part of a nationwide network, the group will be for the Arun district, as well as people further afield.

There are no rules or subscriptions and no-one is in charge but the idea has come from Ian, 44, who was in the Royal Engineers from the age of 16 but was medically discharged with arthritis in 1995.

He said: “Although I have been out of the military since 1995, it is ingrained in me. I have been going to a breakfast club in Southampton, where I work, for two years and it is a really nice family, community atmosphere.

“This venue is ideal and it is thanks to Gary that we can do this. It is not an old boys club, it is about getting all generations together. There are no hard and fast rules as to how it operates and no obligation on how often people come.”

The club is free to attend and Gary is offering a discount on food ordered, as well as a bottomless brew for tea and coffee. The bistro is at the back of his High Street café, with a separate side door in Clifton Road.

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