by Alan Quick

MILITARY charity Forces Support has donated a garden bench and fire pit to a Crediton family.

Alison Fleming and her husband Stewart lost their son, Jamie, aged 21 years, in a road accident on Good Friday in 2014 on the A487 Felindre Farchog to Cardigan Road.

Despite his young age, Jamie had had a highly-regarded military career.

Lance Corporal Fleming, from Spinning Path Gardens, Crediton, had spent four-and-a-half years in the Army, in the Royal Signals based in Brawdy, Pembrokeshire.

Born in Milton Keynes, the Fleming family moved to Crediton when Jamie was aged one and he attended both Hayward’s Primary School and Queen Elizabeth’s in Crediton. He then went to Exeter College with the Army’s Further Education Bursary scheme.

Alison Fleming belongs to a bereaved military mum’s website.

Some of the mums had heard about the charity Forces Support, which provides benches and a fire pits, as well as other services to families who have lost someone in military service.

On Thursday, December 21, the bench and fire pit were delivered to Alison and Stewart by a charity representative.

Stewart explained: "It was a pleasant early Christmas present for the family.  The bench and fire pit are well-built, made from quality steel and they look absolutely fantastic!  The fire pit will be going to Jamie’s brother Rory to enhance his garden."

Forces Support is a Midlands-based charity.  It was launched in March 2010 by a father and son partnership, Bill and Billy McCance, with the aim to create a national network of Forces Support outlets to raise the funds needed to run the practical support project nationally. 

Apart from offering benches and fire pits the charity also provide practical support in the form of general home maintenance, and garden make overs.

Full details about the charity can be found at: www.forcessupport.org.uk .