9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Veterans' charity to host Lanarkshire's first Armed Forces Family Fun Day
Who Dares Cares is a dedicated United Kingdom Armed Forces and blue light services charity
Lanarkshire locals are being encouraged to support our veterans at the inaugural Armed Forces Family Fun Day.
Organised by Who Dares Cares charity, the event at Calderglen Country Park in East Kilbride on Sunday, June 29, will support veterans and blue light services.
Attractions on the day include military vehicles, pipe bands, an inflatable assault course, face painting, stalls, a DJ and music, military memorabilia and Police Scotland and Mountain Rescue will also be on hand to chat to visitors.
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Event organiser and army veteran Calum McLeod, who co-founded Who Dares Cares charity, said: "It's going to be a great day with the military vehicles, including original SAS vehicles from the Second World War, being the main attraction. The only thing we need now is the weather to be on our side!
"Who Dares Cares is a veterans' charity. We are in East Kilbride quite a bit - a lot of the veterans come from East Kilbride so Calderglen was a good choice for this event.
"It will be a family day for all, open to the public, and this will be the first event of its kind here in Lanarkshire.
"There was nothing like the big Armed Forces Day parades you get in Glasgow here in Lanarkshire so this is how the idea came about."
Who Dares Cares is a dedicated United Kingdom Armed Forces and blue light services charity based in Hamilton.
Formed through Alba Military Fitness, the charity was founded by two former soldiers Colin MacLachlan, The Royal Scots & 22 SAS and Calum MacLeod, the King's Own Scottish Borderers.
Both servicemen left the army, but for them the wars were not over. They decided to support other veterans too.
Their mission is to support Armed Forces and blue light services personnel, including their families, who are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Calum added: "In Lanarkshire alone there are 20,000 veterans. So the idea was to put on a family fun day to bring everyone together.
"The charity started with four people and is now UK-wide and is heavily involved in various events throughout the year. We're just back from the West Highland Way with a group of veterans and we run a Walk - Talk - Brew mental health group every fortnight in Calderglen Country Park and at Strathclyde Country Park.
"We're all volunteers who still have day jobs but the charity has just grown arms and legs. We were the first to do a walk and talk event for mental health and now it's evolved into something so much more."
Armed Forces Family Fun Day runs from 12-4.30pm and entry and parking is free.
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