National Event set to take stage at Stadium Of Light for second year in a row

Sunderland’s Stadium of Light will be the host once again for a National flagship event for the military and blue light sector in May. 

The National Armed Forces & Emergency Services Event (NAFESE) 2024 will open its doors for the second time on Thursday May 16, following a successful first event at the football ground in April 2023. 

NAFESE 2024 is the coming together of armed forces and emergency services serving personnel, veterans, cadets and families of both, to celebrate the idea of service under one roof. The event features an Armed Forces Veterans Breakfast Club in Quinn’s Bar (open to all attendees and exhibitors), a Recruitment & Resettlement Zone, A Regional Showcase Hub and a STEM Village, with local schools and colleges invited along on the morning. 

As part of the breakfast club, three speakers are featuring, including Joe Rimmer from Merseyside, a former soldier who nearly died through alcoholism and whose inspirational story is being made into a book. 

The event is being held in association with Blind Veterans UK, who will also feature a chat from their President - Colin Williamson. 

The Event Content Director is local lad and RAF veteran, Mal Robinson, who helped oversee last year’s inaugural show. 

“It is another real coup for the City of Sunderland to stage this National event once more, with exhibitors coming from all over the UK to engage with attendees from the region and beyond. There is a huge amount of synergy between the armed forces and emergency services, with many from the forces joining the services and many reservists in the military, hailing from the blue light arena. 

They more often than not work together and so it made sense to hold an event to celebrate the ethos of service and make it open to anyone from school pupils to serving personnel to veterans. Last year we had an age range of 9-year olds to a 96-year old Veteran and his wife, which was fantastic to see.” 

Sign up and see more information on the event by clicking the link here.