Change at the top at Lancaster war memorial village

Westfield War Memorial Village is a Lancaster institution. As a charity, it has been providing homes and support to Armed Forces veterans from the village in West Road for more than a century.

Today it owns 65 houses and flats, which are leased to the Guinness Partnership and rented mainly to veterans.

The charity now has a new chairman at its helm, Col Chris Owen, who retired as a serving Army officer in 2012 after a career spanning 36 years.

In this time, Chris has had many, varied roles and notable commanded a Regular North West Infantry battalion.

His last job in uniform was in Whitehall at the Ministry of Defence. However, Chris didn’t lose his links with the Army on retiring, quite the opposite, and it was only a change in work clothes, as he became a civil servant to take the job of Regimental Secretary to our local regiment, The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment based in Preston. In effect, he is its chief executive.

Chris is also a member of the North West Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee. He has been a member of the Westfield council for nearly 10 years. He is also very much a proud Lancastrian, being born and raised in Salford and attending Manchester University. But, after travelling the world with the Army home is now firmly settled in the Lune Valley.

On being elected as the new chair, Chris said he was delighted to be selected, adding that the memorial village is something very special and with the great team on the village council, he hopes to ensure it will continue to thrive for the benefit of its residents.