By Isle of Wight Observer
Around 20 people took part in a 24-hour ‘Walk the Pier’ Ryde marathon to raise funds for the Island’s homeless veterans on Friday, July 4.
Dale Hillier, who runs The Veteran pub and hotel on the seafront, and is also founder of the Veterans’ Hub, in the High Street, said: “We started at noon on Friday and finished at noon on Saturday. We walked in pairs up and down the pier with most of us doing 20–30 minute stints, but there were others who walked for longer.
“The majority were volunteers from the Hub, but a few of The Veteran locals took part as well. It was a very enjoyable day and, once all the money is in, we’re looking at raising around £3,700, which will go towards putting up the homeless vets in the hotel and vets who visit us for a respite holiday, free of charge.
“We have to do stuff like this to keep the hotel going and we’re currently looking at converting the Hub into a charity, to enable us to apply for more grants. The Hub would then look after the accommodation and we would keep the bar separate.
“Currently we have three homeless vets with us and we are dealing with the council to help them find proper accommodation and we also have three veterans enjoying a holiday here as well.”
