A CHARITY which provides financial and emotional support for former servicemen and women in Darlington has issued an appeal for help.

The town's branch of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association/Forces Help urgently needs volunteers to take on cases of veterans who have fallen on hard times.

Volunteers visit and monitor those suffering from problems such as loneliness, bereavement and debt.

The workload of SSAFA/Forces Help - which has the Queen as its patron - is growing daily, with many Second World War veterans in particular reaching old age.

Many of its volunteers, who are unpaid but receive expenses, are also retiring, so the organisation is appealing for new blood.

A spokesman for the Darlington branch said: "Without more caseworkers, the people that come to us, and who may have made great sacrifices or experienced much hardship on behalf of our country, may continue to suffer miserable circumstances. There are very few cases where we are unable to help, sometimes using the wide-ranging resources of our national and service network of charitable institutions and funds.

"We do have a pressing need for casework volunteers and hope people will come forward and offer their services."

SSAFA/Forces Help, which is funded by various HM Forces benevolent funds, was founded in 1885.

Its volunteers, who receive specialist training, do not have to be ex-service personnel, but do need to own a car and be able to give a few hours each week.

Travelling expenses are paid out of local fundraising efforts by those working in the organisation. The work is said to suit retired people or those who are working perhaps just part-time.

Anyone who can help the Darlington division should write to secretary Michael Worrall at SSAFA/Forces Help, Memorial Hall, Darlington Memorial Hospital, Hollyhurst Road, Darlington, DL3 6HS. People can also leave a message on an answering machine, (01325) 369295, or call at the hospital office on Fridays between 2pm and 4pm.