Free breakfast on Sat 28th June for serving or retired members.

[MATELO]

Armed forces eat for free on Saturday 28 June (http://www.crowncarveries.co.uk/offer/armedforcesday2014/)

[Willard Whyte]

Nice gesture, but Oxford seems to be about as far from a Crown Carvery as it's possible to get in this country.

[newt]

I think Dalbeattie is even further!:E

[Willard Whyte]

My dear chap, I feel distinctly uneasy about venturing more than a mile or so North of the River Thames, let alone...

[Courtney Mil]

Inapropriate advertising here. Please delete.

[Tankertrashnav]

Seconded that, Courteny Mil. This is a patronising gesture. Why should serving members of the armed forces need a free meal - all are at least adequately paid - some very well paid. As for retired servicemen - I would be ashamed to go and claim my free meal when there are thousands in this country who really need one.

As far as Im concerned this is in the same category as the "thank you for your service" thing, creeping in from across the pond. I dont need thanking for my service - I got paid for it and had a bloody good time. For those less fortunate than me there are charities such as Help for Heroes, the various service Benevolent Funds, RBL etc which this company could donate to. I see this as a cheap publicity stunt whose probable main aim is to expand its email database.

Bin this thread ASAP Mods

[NutLoose]

Jeez... Guys, people go on about people not doing things for the Services, then along comes a Company that is offering a free meal and you jump all over it and deride it.
They do not have to do this, but have chosen to at a cost to themselves, why not just say thank you and leave it at that, it would be nice to see some of the homeless ex service guys out and about going in to get the eat as much as you can breakfast. :)

[Willard Whyte]

Well said NutLoose.

As for the pompous bull**** elsewhere? Thankful I don't actually associate with people like that.

[Roadster280]

The OP's been a member of PPrune for 5 years, posting about such diverse things as MH370, Tacevals, and general mil stuff. I would be therefore be very surprised if this was advertising. Far more likely is promotion of the offer to others.

Not that I need charity either, but the offer of a free meal is in an entirely different league to being so far up **** creek that one needs the help of H4H, SSAFA etc. So far as I am aware, those that SSAFA etc help truly do need the help.

If a company wishes to express its thanks to the military community on Armed Forces Day by way of an offer, why is that so bad? If it generates goodwill for their business, then why shouldn't they do it? Hesco (manufacturers of the field-erected walling system for sangers etc) get paid handsomely by the MOD, yet thank the lads on the frontline by putting "goodies" into the products supplied, knowing that the lads at the sharp end will receive them when they're opening the boxes.

As for the comment re people thanking mil and ex-mil for their service, what ON EARTH is wrong with that?

I have a colleague, who is not ex-military. He often says how grateful he is that there are people who stand ready to keep him and his family safe. Not just to me (i.e. ex-mil), but to others (i.e. not ex-mil).

On 6th June this year, I happened to be on Poole Quay, one of the departure points for Overlord. There was an old boy in his blazer and medals. I asked him if he had been involved. No, he'd been a wireless op on Stirlings, been shot down and was a POW on the day. Being ex-Royal Signals, we shared the "morse bond". We chatted for a while, and it struck me that if his generation hadn't done what they did, we'd have been having the conversation in German. Kein Problem für mich, but I doubt he saw it that way. I spoke to the barman, wanting to pay his tab; he didn't have one. So I went and bought him a bottle of Scotch to express my thanks.

It grips my **** frankly that some obviously think I did wrong.

[SRENNAPS]

Well said Nutloose and Roadster280 :D:D:D:D:D:D

There are some people on this site that just want to see the negative of anything that is written, and that is exactly the reason I hardly come here any more!! :ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

[dctyke]

Agree with nutloose!

[Al R]

The issue I have of lauding and feting anyone over anyone else, is that eventually, there is a swing the other way. Fire fighters and nurses do a grand job too, but they seem to get very little. The zeitgeist is as it is at the moment, and although I hope the 'nice' corporate and national sentiment is expressed in a way that is more naturally British and not "YouTube British" we should also remember that the British public is fickle and capricious. If you drink from that fountain instead of digging your own well, you go thirsty when the fountain breaks.

If you're happy to get sucked into its data capture operation, fine.. but insidiously, we're transforming the process how the nation appreciates the value of a military force which sacrifices much and which therefore deserves much - into something commercial and transient that can be bought off with a burger. Widows and widowers still get shafted over pensions, 24% of homeless people once served and the NHS continues to let down those who suffered from PTSD. Nothing goes out of fashion quicker than fashion. When the charity money dries up, when the banker fund has gone.. then what?

Taking my martinet hat off for a moment, I hope everyone enjoys their breakfast - better than the mess these days? Me, I'd create an e-mail account for spam, use that and enjoy those monosodium glutamate enriched bangers!

Income to army charities falls after ?admirable performance? during recession | UK Fundraising (http://www.fundraising.co.uk/2014/04/24/income-army-charities-falls-admirable-performance-recession/)

[Exascot]

Thank you Matelo certainly not advertising for goodness sake.

However I did a search for my nearest and got:

Athens Way, Lees, Oldham OL4 3BP, UK
Athens Drive, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA13 9ND, UK
Athens Drive, Worsley, Manchester M28 3DD, UK
Athens Court, Derby DE73 5BY, UK
Athens Street, Stockport SK1, UK
Athens Close, Hull, Kingston upon Hull HU3, UK

Oh well. How much is a flight to MAN from ATH :(

[Wensleydale]

According to the advert, all one has to do to get the voucher is to sign up on line "to receive free email updates from your local Crown".

That will be SPAM on the menu then!

[teeteringhead]

I too think it's a good gesture. :ok: Unfortunately a quick check reveals a choice of 3 "nearest" establishments: which are 22, 23 and 24 miles from Teetering Towers respectively.

So that'd be nearly 50 miles for a free brekkie - sadly no. :( And I'm working tomorrow anyway....

[MATELO]

@ Courtney Mil
Inapropriate advertising here. Please delete.

Not sure you have grasped the inappropriate advertising malarkey yet, Kidda.


@ Tankertrashnav
This is a patronising gesture. Why should serving members of the armed forces need a free meal - all are at least adequately paid - some very well paid. As for retired servicemen - I would be ashamed to go and claim my free meal when there are thousands in this country who really need oneSomething tells me in the way you word your post that if this offer was for a 5 course summer ball, followed by a champagne breakfast at The Savoy, you would be first in the queue. Free stuff, just different class expectations.

I am proud of serving, always was, always will be. If this offer had been available in the USA it would have be lauded over by all and congratulatory high fives would have been offered all round

#behappy #stopmoaning

[Tankertrashnav]

Sorry Matelo you are way out there. The nearest I've been to the Savoy or anywhere like it is an occasional stay at a Premier Inn and it's likely to stay that way. You have no idea what "class" I may or may not belong to - suffice it to say my dad was an AA man, we lived in a bog standard semi and I was state educated.

I appear to be in a minority in this thread

A few points - I'm as likely to post positive comments as negative on here. Just posted very positively about the efforts to get a good attendance at a WW2 Air gunner's funeral, as a recent example

Secondly - pompous? Well I've never been called that before - anyone who has ever met me might have a few other choice words to say about me WW, but pompous wont be one of them.

My point is this. I am heartily sick of this false adulation of the armed forces. As far as I can see this is a reaction to the disdain in which they used to be held, when, for example troops returning from Vietnam were routinely spat on. I'll concede a free breakfast is better than being spat on, but personally I'd prefer neither. It's nice to see a town coming out and welcoming a regiment back from Afghanistan, and I thoroughly approved of the crowds lining the streets of Wootten Basset. But when it gets to the point that it has apparently reached in the USA where soldiers in uniform are applauded in airports (even though they may be transferring from one US base to another) then I think it's time to call a stop.

Anyway, I'm often out on a limb in the Islamophobic threads which abound on here, so I'm getting quite used to it!

Wensleydale - you have confirmed my original point - a cheap way to advertise.

TTN

[Al R]

I like the little gestures. Recently, a Harley dealership in the US stored a bike for free whilst the serving owner was in Afghan. If not contrived, that was a nice touch.

[Roland Pulfrew]

According to the advert, all one has to do to get the voucher is to sign up on line "to receive free email updates from your local Crown".
Wensleydale - you have confirmed my original point - a cheap way to advertise.

Never heard of the "unsubscribe" option then?

That will be SPAM on the menu then!

"Egg and bacon
Egg, sausage and bacon
Egg and Spam
Egg, bacon and Spam
Egg, bacon, sausage and Spam
Spam, bacon, sausage and Spam
Spam, egg, Spam, Spam, bacon and Spam
Spam, Spam, Spam, egg and Spam
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, baked beans, Spam, Spam, Spam and Spam
Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, garnished with truffle pâté, brandy and a fried egg on top, and Spam." :E

I'll get my coat; taxi!

[camelspyyder]

Thankyou for this gesture, which I know you have made every year on Armed Forces Day.

I would take advantage of it if I happened to be near one of your outlets but I will not.

I hope the ungracious reception on this site, and no doubt others, will not dissuade you from continuing to display your positive attitude to the Services.

CS

[Basil]

Anyway, getting serious for a minute ;)
*Drinks not included.
With a bunch of ex and serving turning up? One thing they aren't is stupid :}

[oggers]

I dont need thanking for my service - I got paid for it and had a bloody good time.

The ranks of ex-servicemen are not limited to those who earned a nice fat pension 'fighting' the cold war and "having a bloody good time". There are plenty still around who fought through a real war or two and got NO pension whatsoever for their service.

It strikes me that this is precisely the kind of offer that would appeal to many ex serviceman who don't want or even need charity but wouldn't mind a few quid off the cost of a meal out now and then.

[goudie]

Drinks not included.

Bugger! There's always a bloody catch:(

There's a Crown carvery on the outskirts of my town. Although I shan't avail myself of their kind offer, good luck to those who feel they could do with it.

[jayteeto]

Agreed, I will not be taking up the offer, but I appreciate the gesture even if it is advertising.

[Lima Juliet]

:D:D Bravo! :D:D to Crown Carveries

[Scribbly]

My mum and dad - both in their 70s - went for a breakfast last year and were made to feel really special by the staff. My parents said they don't get treated like that very often, so for that alone I say "thank you " to Crown, and they'll be back this year.

[NutLoose]

And that Scribbly speaks volumes and shows why it is all worth while, I do hope they enjoy themselves this year too :)