THE Burnley and District Services Club was set up to offer veterans and members of the emergency services a place to socialise.

With 20-plus members, the club offers support and advice to anybody who needs it.

Over the past year it has organised free dances for veterans and their families, alongside trips to the National Memorial Arboretum and the Trooping the Colour parade.

Fourteen members also came together to compete in charity bowling green matches, raising £1,200 for North West Ambulance Service.

Chairman Keith Shepherd said: “In the next couple of years thousands are going to be discharged from the army and they need to know they are not on their own.

“There is somewhere to go and socialise.

“Forces become a family, a lot of veterans come out with nowhere to go and walk into.

“In our group we can have banter straight away and that’s what it’s all about.”

“And we are trying to get away from the stigma of veterans being elderly people. We want more young members coming forward.”

Councillor Frank Cant, mayor of Burnley, helped the club celebrate its first anniversary on Wednesday, as members celebrated moving the headquarters to the RnR centre in Hammerton Street.

The club runs drop-in coffee mornings, open to anybody, from 10am to 2pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Every other Wednesday, quiz nights are held at Burnley Miners Social Club.