The home game against Boreham Wood on Saturday, October 29, will be this year’s Remembrance fixture.
It will be marked with a Remembrance parade as well as displays in the Auto-Windscreens (North) Stand on the day.
Oli Barnes, who is the Trust’s education officer and a veteran, spoke about what the day will involve and explained why it is so important for the town.
Speaking exclusively to 1866 Sport, Oli said: “It is on October 29th because there is no fixture over the Remembrance period. We decided that we wanted to do one, so we brought it forward.
“We did one last year and hopefully it’s going to be bigger and better. We’re having lads from my old unit – the Mercian Regiment – and then all of the veterans from the Chesterfield area.
“Chesterfield is a military-heavy town – a lot of people of all different ages have served. Sometimes people do forget and it’s really important that we don’t.
“For us all to come together and remember the guys that never came home or those who are struggling, we all band together and look after those guys.”
The Community Trust recently launched a programme called Buddy Buddy, which helps to support veterans in Chesterfield and the surrounding areas.
Oli explained why the programme is so important for veterans, saying: “I didn’t realise how much I had missed it until I had been out a year or so. I was very lucky that I got a job with the Trust. The banter around the place has really helped me.
“The fact that we’ve been able to start a veterans programme is massive because some guys do feel lost and sometimes they need another veteran to say, ‘Look come down to this’.
“Rather than going to therapy sometimes it just takes a guy who served to understand what you’re going through.”
We are still looking for as many people that have served or are currently serving to take part in the parade and Nathan Khan, the Trust’s senior activities officer, gave the information for anyone looking to join us on that day.
He said: “Just drop me an email at [email protected]. That will come straight through to me, and I’ll get back in touch.
“We are after as many veterans and as many current serving personnel as we can get on the day to make this a real fantastic event.
“It’s a massive project and working with Oli has opened my eyes up to it as someone who has no military background. It really is a special thing.”
