The 19th to the 24th June is Armed Forces Week and it is a chance to show our support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community: from currently serving troops to Service families, veterans and cadets. The Speaker of the Houses of Parliament, Sir Lindsay Hoyle held and event in Parliament on the 22nd June and Sarah Dines MP invited local Derbyshire Dales residents to join her there.
Sarah Dines MP said, ‘I was incredibly honoured to welcome local veterans and their supporters to Parliament on Thursday, to attend the Speaker’s Veterans’ Reception for Armed Forces Week.
It was so nice to have just a few of our area’s many veterans represented at the event, where they were honoured for their service. Sadly our D-Day veteran Albert Keir from Bakewell could not attend but we wished him a happy 98th birthday with help from the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. I would like to thank Falklands Veteran John Barnett and his wife Lesley, Cllr Mark Wakeman who does huge amounts of work for the Royal British Legion and Andy Howard an Iraq War Veteran from Bakewell.
The brave service and sacrifice of the likes of John, Albert, Andy and every veteran across Derbyshire Dales and our whole country, is something that each and every one of us should be thankful for. Veterans deserve our thanks and our respect and I was so pleased to be part of an event celebrating our local armed forces personnel.’
