Free breakfast club for veterans proves popular at Sunderland's Community Shop

Sunderland is home to one of the country’s largest veteran communities - and they and their families can enjoy a hearty breakfast for free at a new club.

Veterans in Crisis (VICs) has launched a new monthly breakfast club at The Community Shop in Fawcett Street and its full English dishes are already going down a treat.

“We’re only in our second month and it’s proving popular,” said Ger Fowler, founder of VICs. “It’s a chance for veterans and their families to socialise with a good breakfast and for many it really helps with social isolation.”

The VICs breakfast club runs on the first Wednesday of the month from 10am to 12pm and includes a free breakfast and a monthly raffle, with city businesses including Petrie & Sons builders and Alex Bonallie from The Gunners in Mary Street already supporting the club with sponsorship.

“Anyone can turn up as long as they’re a veteran or a veteran’s family member,” said Ger. “We treat all veterans the same, whether they served for 30 years or 30 months.

“It’s also open to serving personnel, reservists and cadets.”

Ger added: “There are other breakfast clubs where you have to pay but some of our clients don’t have the money for that, so we decided to do one for free, with a different sponsor each month. You can come along get a free breakfast and drinks and become a member of the Community Shop itself.”

It’s one of many local groups who use the new Community Shop which opened in Fawcett Street in April.

Part of a pioneering network of social supermarkets, Community Shop offers three distinct, but interconnected spaces, after a major transformation of the old council contact centre, once also home to Binns.

On the retail side, its Community Store supermarket is open to members, selling fruit, veg and bread for 20p, alongside many other surplus food and household items at heavily discounted prices.

Meanwhile, its Community Kitchen cafe is open to all, offering meals, such as a full English for £1.50, while kids eat free every day. The community can also access its cookery workshops and Community Hub spaces, which offer everything from mental health support to advice on budgeting for a family.

Veteran Darrel Rush, who served in the Army and the TA for eight years, is one of the many using the breakfast club already.

Speaking about the support he’s received from VICs, he said: “I got divorced after a marriage collapse and, along with that and lockdown, felt isolated. A lot of people helped me, including VICs, and I feel like it brought me back from the brink of suicide.

“My benefits were all over the place and they really helped me with that, as well as helping me with my confidence, which wasn’t brilliant, and getting me out of the house.”

Councillor Paul Donaghy, Sunderland's Armed Forces Champion, who served in operations around the world during his time in the Royal Navy, said the breakfast club was a great service for veterans.

“Ger does great work with Veterans in Crisis and it’s great that veterans and their families can come along to a club like this. Not only do they get to enjoy breakfast, it’s important for veterans to be able to talk and swap stories,” he said.

“That’s what community is about and it’s something VICs does really well.”