A WEEKEND camp staged by a men’s peer support group was hailed as a huge success.

Eleven people took part in the event, organised by Talk & Thrive.

It was held on land owned by Keighley town councillor Mick Dowse.

“Fresh air and countryside views are well known for helping with mental health and we wanted to capitalise on that by taking the lads away and giving them the option of wild camping or sleeping in a tent,” said Jimmy Vaughan, for the group.

“We cooked on an open fire, talked, had a laugh, cracked jokes and played games – it was a lot of fun.

“We even had someone travel from Wigan to take part.”

The event – called Camp Arthur – was the brainchild of Pete Western, and Mr Vaughan helped bring it to fruition.

“It was named after the man who Pete loved more than anything growing-up – his grandad,” said Mr Vaughan.

“Pete is an army veteran living with post-traumatic stress disorder and being part of Talk & Thrive and planning Camp Arthur has all aided his continuing recovery.”

Mr Vaughan said the event had received a lot of support, for which the group was grateful.

He added: “We had a lot of backing from Nick and Emma at Missing Peace Wellbeing and Support, who helped with admin and kindly supplied our Saturday-night tea; Bradford Council kindly donated all cleaning and personal protective equipment supplies; Jackie Earle and Pat Kitchen kindly donated the food for the lads’ breakfast; Castle Tyres kindly made a huge donation of ten sleeping bags; Main Force helped supply us with the tents, and flags were donated by L&S Prints.”

Following the success of the camp, it is now hoped to stage them monthly.

Anyone interested in helping out or offering support should visit facebook.com/EmpoweringSurvivorsUK.