Latest news from our Armed Forces Service | James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

VETERANS COFFEE MORNING HOSTS SPECIAL GUESTS TO MARK ARMED FORCES WEEK

The hospital hosted a number of special guests on Wednesday 25 June 2025 to mark Armed Forces Week. Our Armed Forces Support Officer, Kath Hutton, together with Sue Francis and her volunteers in the Louise Hamilton Centre welcomed veterans and guests including The Vibettes, the Norfolk Military Vehicle Group, the Oliver Peters Coffee Company and the Norfolk Armed Forces Commissioner and Army veteran, Andrew Taylor.

The Vibettes are a local vocal duo who specialise in 1940s, 1950s and 1960s music. They were recently were flown to Guernsey to sing at the Channel Island’s VE Day 80 celebration, and can be seen at Lowestoft’s 1940s Day event being held in Wellington Gardens, on the seafront, on Saturday 12 July. The duo sang a medley of wartime classics for guests, while they tucked into a buffet lunch.

Several vehicles owned by members of the Norfolk Military Vehicle Group were on display outside the Centre, while local Royal British Legion volunteers ran a fundraising raffle. The coffee was kindly supplied, free of charge for this event, by the Oliver Peters Coffee Company, a Norfolk business inspired by Oliver’s grandfather’s service in the Royal Norfolks.

The regular coffee mornings are open to anyone who has served in the UK Armed Forces and their families and are usually attended by dozens of veterans from around the area. The next Veterans Coffee Morning, which will return to its usual format, will be held on Wednesday 17 September, in the Louise Hamilton Centre, between 11am and 2pm.

News in brief

Norfolk and Suffolk Police launch new protocol to support search for armed forces veterans who go missing

Norfolk and Suffolk Police have launched a new tool to support officers searching for armed forces veterans who go missing.

The Forcer Protocol is a national initiative, similar to the Herbert Protocol, designed to assist with the safety and response to missing veterans, reservists and serving military personnel. It aims to provide key information about these individuals to police when they go missing, enabling a faster and more targeted response and search.

It was developed by founder Claire Lilly and is named after her former husband, Alan Forcer, who suffered with PTSD and debilitating depression following service in Kosovo and Northern Ireland and took his own life in 2020 after going missing.

By capturing the key information, the protocol helps police accurately assess the risk associated with that missing person and tailor the search accordingly. It also facilitates access to specialised aftercare support for veterans once they have been found. It gives police access to veteran’s details such as any key vulnerabilities or known risk factors. Veterans or their families must give consent to these details being shared first.

Prior to a person going missing, families, carers, friends or the individuals themselves can fill out an online form with vital information such as medical history, known triggers, previous incidents of going missing, and contact details. The form is found on the Safe and Found Online website - https://safeandfoundonline.co.uk/forcer-protocol/index.html

This information is securely stored on the Safe and Found platform, and only accessed by police if the individual is reported missing, enabling faster and more informed search efforts.

Officers will only ever ask for the information included on the form if the person is reported to them as a missing person using the following three step approach –

1. The person is reported missing to Norfolk or Suffolk Constabulary. As part of the initial assessment for a missing person, the call handler will ask the reporting person if the missing person is known to be a veteran.

2. Following this, the police control room supervisors will directly access the information provided on the online form, through Safe and Found Online. Officers will then identify risk and investigate and look for the missing person without delay.

3. Once the missing person is located, a subsequent referral will be completed to Op Nova, a specialist charity providing practical and emotional support. Op Nova is delivered by the Forces Employment Charity which provides support for veterans who may be feeling detached and in between military and civilian worlds. To find out more about Op Nova, please visit the website here: www.forcesemployment.org.uk/programmes/op-nova/

Detective Chief Inspector Brett Harris said: “We strongly encourage members of the public - especially veterans, serving personnel, and their families - to engage with these schemes. Whether signing up for themselves or on behalf of a loved one, registering through the Safe and Found Online website ensures that vital information is readily available to police in the event of a disappearance. This can make a critical difference in the speed and success of our response. By working together, we can help ensure that vulnerable individuals are not only found quickly, but also supported with dignity and care.”

Remembrance Day service in our safe garden

Remembrance Coffee Morning

Celebrating VE Day 80

Thanks to funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Thrive Together programme, the James Paget Armed Forces Service is able to support a number of community groups.

These groups have been celebrating VE80 in different ways;

A group of seven men and women sit around an oval wooden table with plates, cutlery and various dishes of food on it.

Veterans Kitchen is a group that meets fortnightly in Disability Advice North East Suffolk (DANES), Lowestoft to cook a meal and eat together, encouraging confidence in the kitchen together with an enjoyable social group. For VE80, the group prepared recipes from the wartime Ministry of Food – Lord Woolton’s pie, Spam Fritters and Eggless Ginger Cake.

As half of our group are over the age of 90, we also shared some memories of wartime food and rationing.

A close up of some of the food prepared for the VE Day celebration - including sweet and savoury dishes mentioned in the text.

The Brew Butty and Banter group takes place monthly in Beccles, supported by the Royal British Legion Beccles branch.

A groups of about 20 people sit around a long rectangular table with a Union Jack table cloth on it. Several other Union Jacks are being held up and the table has numerous plates, dishes and cups on it. Many of those sitting around the table are looking at the camera.

We held an indoor street party for VE80 tucking into Spam sandwiches, jam tarts and homemade cakes.

With bunting and flags, the atmosphere was festive, and our older members shared their memories of living during WW2 and VE Day.

We also raised £70 from a raffle for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

A group of nine people - men and women - sit either side of a rectangular table with a Union Jack tablecloth on it. On the table closest to the camera is a large Union Jack design teapot and there are plates of food and mugs, along with jug with orange squash on the table. Several of those sitting around the table hold Union Jack flags.