British Veterans Travel

Second World War veterans from across the UK, Channel Islands and Ireland are being awarded grants from the Big Lottery Fund to return to places across the world where they saw action.

Through the ‘Heroes Return 2' programme veterans can apply for grants to cover travel and accommodation costs to revisit the places where they saw active service. Widows and widowers of veterans can also apply, and carers and spouses can receive funding to accompany them.

MORE FUNDING for WWII VETERANS with Heroes Return2 Continuing to January 2012

The Big Lottery Fund is committing over £1 million in extra good cause funding in the year ahead for the country’s WWII veterans to make sure they can make their personal battlefront commemorative journeys to the places they saw action.

The additional funding for the scheme comes on the day the Fund is naming the 50,000th individual to benefit from the Heroes Return grant schemes.

The Big Lottery Fund’s UK Interim Chair, Anna Southall, is presenting the 50,000th award to a veteran at the Imperial War Museum in London. The recipient is an RAF Bomber Command veteran Gordon Mellor who escaped occupied France with the help of the Resistance via the Comet Line. To date 50,000 veterans, widows, spouse and carers have taken up the opportunity presented by the scheme to make their individual pilgrimages.

The current Heroes Return2 programme, was scheduled to close in January but now remains open until 31st January 2012.

Through the scheme, Second World War veterans from the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland can apply for travel and accommodation costs to visit the places across the world where they saw active service or to take part in an official commemoration in the UK. War widows and widowers of veterans are also eligible, and carers and spouses can also receive funding to travel with veterans.