Poppy seller attacked in the street

A 39-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an assault on a former soldier as he was selling poppies in a town centre, police have said.

Sergeant Chris Mounteney, who works for the charity Soldiers Off The Street, was collecting money for the Poppy Appeal when the attack happened around 8.30am on Saturday in Abington Street, Northampton.

He said he first saw his attacker staring at him in the street before he approached him.

Speaking to the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, he said: "This guy was standing there eyeballing me and then ducked down the side of a vehicle and snuck round and then spat at me and gave me lots of verbal abuse.

"I said to him 'look I don't want any trouble, I'm just here to raise money in remembrance of people who have died in combat'."

Sgt Mounteney, who spent time in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles, said two other collectors came over to him and as he was speaking to them the man threatened to hit him in the face.

He said the experience had left him feeling "quite shocked" as he expected such an incident to happen in a combat situation but not in his hometown.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: "A 39-year-old man of no fixed abode was arrested in Northampton town centre on Saturday in connection with an assault on a former soldier who was raising money for the Poppy appeal.

"The man was taken into custody at Campbell Square police station and has been detained under the Mental Health Act."

Derbyshire Times

Remember the fallen - Don't forget the living

Article and video by 1Kewldude2

It's an inexcusable betrayal of Britains brave servicemen and women by our government.

As most of the country sits warm and dry in their cosy homes this morning, 5,000 veterans face another day out in the cold.

Five thousand proud and honourable soldiers who havent got a proper roof over their heads.
Abandoned and forgotten, these heroes were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

They include former Royal Marine Nixon Browne, 29, who came home from Afghanistan 11 months ago with nowhere to live and was merely handed a list of charity phone numbers and told to get on with it. He now lives in a charity-run hostel in London.

Five miles away, former paratrooper Thomas Jamieson ekes out a miserable existence in the doorway of a Central London shop. It is minus 5C and Thomas, 45, survives on the bitter-cold streets of the capital with the skills he learned in the army.

Thomas and Nixon are just two of the 1,100 ex-servicemen sleeping rough or in hostels, squats or dossing on friends floors in London alone.

A further 2,500 veterans are estimated to be in temporary accommodation in the capital at any one time, according to a University of York study.

Across Britain, another 1,500 are reckoned to be homeless, a group so forgotten that no-one has even bothered trying to count them, let alone offer them the assistance they have earned.

Worse still, military charities expect the numbers to rocket as troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, many maimed, return to civvy street only to find the economic slump means they cant get a job.

Most homeless veterans are single men meaning they languish at the bottom of housing waiting lists, despite laws that say they should get priority.

Even veterans left traumatised by conflict and with children to support are refused help by over-stretched councils and housing associations re-housing immigrants.

And we want a full UK-wide survey to properly pinpoint how many veterans are homeless and what they need to get back on their feet.

http://www.veterans-aid.net/index.html

Soldiers Off The Street

A new organization has been set up to help ex-service personnel who have been affected by homelessness.

The organisation’s website, Soldiers off the Street, is crying out for volunteers to help those courageous people who have found themselves on our streets.

An estimated 12% of homeless people are ex-service personnel.

Here are a few ways in which you can help…

Collecting clothes so we can hand them out to ex service personnel living on the streets.

If you have a spare room in your home why not consider letting it to one of these unfortunate heroes so that they can work their way into a normal life.

If you rent out properties please consider letting to these unfortunate heroes so that they can work their way into a normal life.

Once of the street they have a lot more opportunities to lead a normal life; living on the streets what chance do they have of even getting a job.

Letting a room or a property to our homeless ex service personnel does not end there, we need dedicated people that will help them back into normal society as some of them will be suffering other problems that they will need help with.

We will need volunteers that can act as a go between to try reuniting ex service personnel back into their own families. This would be the best way to go but it would be up to the homeless person we are dealing with at the time.

Volunteers to keep an eye out and speak to homeless people, and if they are ex service personnel let us know where they are.

Fundraisers of any description.

People to arrange parcels and send them on to our main office to distribute to ex service personnel on the street.

Once soldiers off the street has grown, we will need van drivers willing to go out distributing clothes, food and parcels on the streets.

If you think you can help in anyway other then what we have stated please call or e-mail us:

Soldiers Off the Street
21A Chester Street,
Wrexham,
LL13 8BG.

Tel: 01745 853 009.

Mobile: 07773 493 088.

E-Mail: admin@soldiersoffthestreet.com