The Royal British Legion is pleased to announce that due to growing demand, its Handy Van Service is now being extended to help all Armed Forces families living in Suffolk stay in their homes longer.

The Legion’s Handy Van Service, which offers a trusted, secure, high quality service which had previously only been available for free to serving or ex-Service personnel and their families on means-tested benefits. While it will remain free of charge to those on benefits, the service will now also be accessible to all Armed Forces families who can afford to pay.

Mark Whitbread is a Handy Van fitter who has been serving the Suffolk and Norwich areas for three years. With a father who served in the Navy, Mark has a heightened appreciation of the positive effect the service can have on Armed Forces beneficiaries.

“Every day you know you’re going to be making a real difference to someone’s quality of life. You can’t beat that kind of satisfaction.”

The nationwide Legion Handy Van Service does much more than simply tackle small jobs around the home – all staff are case worker trained and will assess a beneficiary’s individual needs to ensure that they get the help and support they need.

Mark, who has previously worked as a self-employed carpenter, says, “As far as I’m concerned this is about payback. The beneficiaries have done their bit and it’s up to us to do our bit in helping them in whatever way we can. I visit both old veterans and more increasingly young people who have returned from Afghanistan – each and every one of them deserves this help.”

Mark knows that the move to make the Handy Van Service available beyond those on means-tested benefits in Suffolk has been eagerly long-awaited.

“I’ve lost track of the number of friends who have said to me that they wish they had access to the service, but have lost out because they aren’t on benefits. It’s about wanting a service you can trust and rely on, and the Handy Van scheme offers just that.”

To find out more about the service call 0800 032 0306.