Alan Griffin said in the past 10 years the group had helped more than 4500 returned servicemen and continued to fulfil a vital role.

“The secret to their success is the volunteers and the ex-service groups who have been working together,” Mr Griffin said.

“Clearly they have a good group here that pitch in and do a lot of good work.

“As a result they have secured in the region of $25 million worth of pension entitlements.

“So the information centre is an important way to provide information and support particularly to provide outreach for regional veterans.”

The centre’s chairman Kevyn Williams said it felt like yesterday when he and three others formed the group in 1998.

But in that time the centre has grown from four members to 22 volunteers.

“I think there is a sense of mateship that is instilled in the services that continues long afterwards,” Mr Williams said.

“Many of our volunteers came to us themselves and just wanted to be able to put something back.”

Mr Williams said he took great satisfaction from being able to help others, but particularly remembered the case of one young soldier who had served in Iraq and East Timor.

“He didn’t know why but had suffered a mental breakdown and after 17 years in the army felt he had been shunned,” he said.

“But after seeing us we were able to have him looked after medically and he was compensated — it was very heartening to see.”

Since moving its offices to Melbourne Road in 2003 the centre has been able to provide computer classes and is hoping to develop its buildings to host cooking lessons and a men’s shed among other projects.