MILITARY veterans have been given an experience of a lifetime to race in some of the UK’s fastest cars.

Veterans from across the North East have been treated to a high-speed day out to remember at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire.

The event was created by one of the country’s leading security providers SSGC which has donated £10,000 and pledged ongoing support to veterans’ charity Mission Motorsport.

Darlington and Stockton Times: Specialist security firm SSGC, is holding an event taking at Croft Circuit to give military veterans a high-speed day out to remember Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

SSGC announced Mission Motorsport as its chosen charity partner, providing both financial and practical support for the organisation, which works with wounded, injured or sick (WIS) ex-forces personnel.

Mission Motorsport’s aim is to race, retrain and recover veterans to help them ease back to civilian life.

SSGC, which earlier this year deployed 700 security officers, many of whom were military veterans, to marshal Covid-19 testing centres across the UK, has donated the five-figure sum in a bid to help plug a funding gap caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Darlington and Stockton Times: Specialist security firm SSGC, is holding an event taking at Croft Circuit to give military veterans a high-speed day out to remember pictured driver George Adshead in his Lotus with Veteran James Rose from Middlesbrough Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

SSGC is a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant (AFC), an ongoing commitment to support the armed forces community, and managing director David Stubbs believes the partnership with Mission Motorsport was a natural move.

Mr Stubbs, himself a former military police officer, said: “We have a long-established link with the armed forces, indeed 50 per cent of our shares are owned by veterans, and signing the AFC was our first step into formal support for veterans and the servicing communities.

“We now want to move that support up a notch and working with Mission Motorsport was the perfect fit.

“It’s about more than simply donating much-needed funds. We will work with the charity to help their ongoing commitment to getting WIS personnel into meaningful employment, meanwhile they will provide expert guidance for us as we look to work towards gold AFC status.”

Darlington and Stockton Times: Specialist security firm SSGC, is holding an event taking at Croft Circuit to give military veterans a high-speed day out to remember Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

James Cameron CEO of Mission Motorsport and Afghan veteran said: “A lot of my guys were hurt on the tour in Afghanistan and I saw the impact it had on them and their families.

“Sport was being used to help people recover and I thought that motorsport would be great, so we set up Mission Motorsport with the sole intention of helping people recover.

“These days out for veterans are fantastic, and they really help.

“We aim as a charity to get people out the house and back into employment, basically helping them to adjust to civilian life.

“With the partnerships we have such as with Jaguar Land Rover we have managed to put over 1,000 veterans in jobs.

“It’s fantastic to have the support of SSGC and we’re incredibly grateful for their donation, which comes at a time when charities up and down the country have been hit by a downturn in donations due to Covid-19.

“It makes the job worthwhile seeing them come out the cars and enjoying themselves.”

Army veteran James Rose who fought in Afghanistan as part of the second battalion Yorkshire regiment said: “It’s the first time I have been in a fast car, when you’re out on the track its like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.

“I will definitely be coming back, I am not a car person but this is has been a great experience.”