Bognor Regis: Military community invited to help create artwork

Members of the military community will help to create an art piece highlighting the work of veterans in West Sussex.

“Leave your Mark”, organised by Operation Regroup made up of Poppy Art UK, Crimsham Veterans’ Hub and Sons of Anxiety Talk, will give visitors the opportunity to leave a thumb print on the latest art piece by Kirsty Chapman.

The military personnel will come together at Charlie Charlie 1, a coffee shop and support base for veterans in Bognor Regis, on 15 June.

Ms Chapman said: “I paint for those who fought, those who fell, and those still fighting.”

Poppy Art UK was created by Ms Chapman, an artist from Sussex who paints military-themed pieces for “our heroes”.

Inspired by her grandmother, who cooked and tended for RAF pilots at Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, she was told by her to “find a way to never forget them”.

After connecting with Jonathan Barber from Sons of Anxiety Talk and Matthew Cole from Crimsham Veterans’ Hub, the idea was born to form Operation Regroup – an organisation to raise awareness and and deliver education around issues affecting armed forces and veterans.

Mr Cole, a nine-year British Army veteran, designed Crimsham Veterans Hub for serving military and the community.

On the back of winning a Soldiering on Award last year, the group opened Charlie Charlie 1.

Sons of Anxiety Talk is a charity which also focuses on peer-to-peer support to men and women in Bognor Regis facing mental health issues.

Operation Regroup hopes the event “will be a unique and thoroughly uplifting day for our community”.

There will also be talks and activities on the day to raise awareness of the mental health and wellness of serving military and veterans.

Ms Chapman added: “My aim is that in years to come, people can look up their loved ones’ poppy prints and remember the sacrifices made for our freedom.”