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A group of veterans from VA’s East End hostel, New Belvedere House, enjoyed a therapeutic break in France as guests of the Franco-British Association of Sillery.
Colonel Geoffrey Cardozo, VA’s fundraiser, who organised the visit, said: “It was a marvellous opportunity for our lads and the staff who took them there. We had the place to ourselves, including the Chateau de Sillery’s beautiful grounds and sporting facilities.”
Many of the ex-Servicemen who went on the trip had experienced, or faced, homelessness and despair before arriving at Veterans Aid. For several this recuperative break prefaced a move back into their own accommodation and full time employment.
Hostel manager Pat O’Connor, who drove the group to Sillery and back, said she was delighted by the effect of the visit on all who went. “It was so peaceful. The grounds were lovely and the guys could just walk and relax and be themselves. And the people from the Association were so kind.”
Chateau Sillery is just south of Paris so members of the VA group were able to go to the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe as well as visit Versailles and enjoy a boat trip on the Seine. Football, exercise and evening barbecues rounded off full days and guaranteed restful nights.
The group was made up of all ages and Service backgrounds and although many knew each other from New Belvedere House they hadn’t spent much time together before the trip.
“It was great” said Pat. “They bonded really well.”
The Franco-British Association was founded in 1915 by the British Red Cross to help injured and sick French soldiers returning from the WW1 trenches. Its patron is Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Paris.
Today the Association cares for handicapped people but in summer they are away on holiday leaving accommodation vacant.
The trip was made possible part by the ‘Not Forgotten’ Association and to the ‘Colonie Franco-Britannique de Sillery’ – as the Association is known in France.
“We can’t thank them enough” said Col Cardozo. “You simply can’t put a price on this sort of experience.”
person’s life.”
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