A FORMER commodore at Faslane will star this week in the first in a new series of talks at the Helensburgh Heroes centre in the town.

Eric Thompson MBE is the guest star at the Sinclair Street centre this Thursday, April 12, as the charity kicks off a series of ‘Tales From the Big Chair’ events which it hopes will help, inspire and encourage people to believe in themselves and their ideas.

Hosted by Helensburgh Heroes, each invited guest will chat through their lives, careers and experiences, and will nominate their own personal hero and share two pieces of advice – one that was given to them and one that they would like to pass on to others.

Each event closes with a short audience Q&A session.

A Helensburgh Heroes spokesman said: “The charity hopes that the resulting stories of problems, solutions, obstacles and opportunities will help convince people, especially the younger members of the community, that they too can achieve and that there is no magic formula – everyone has it within them.

“These events are designed to meet the objectives and ideals that were at the heart of the charity’s foundation. We always wanted to host sessions such as ‘Tales From the Big Chair’ where members of the community can meet and learn and share experiences and hopefully feel a sense of empowerment.

“Over the coming weeks we will be introducing a number of events and workshops.”

Thursday’s event, and all subsequent talks in the ‘Tales From the Big Chair’ series, will begin at 7pm and will take place in front of an intimate audience at Hucksters Cafe to the rear of the Heroes Centre at 28 Sinclair Street.

Tickets for the event can be obtained, on a first-come, first-served basis, by popping in to the centre or online at helensburghheroes.com/tales-big-chair/.

Eric, whose recently published book On Her Majesty’s Nuclear Service is riding high in the best seller charts, is a former naval officer who specialised in submarines and rose to become commodore in charge of the base at Faslane.

The book was officially launched at Helensburgh Library last month.

Meanwhile, Helensburgh Heroes’ new membership scheme was launched earlier this month.

The scheme gives members discounts on purchases made at the centre and cafe, along with priority notification of events and presale tickets, exclusive member offers, and regular member news and updates.

Costs are £20 per year for adults, £10 for concessions (unwaged and those aged 60 and above), £5 for students who are over 16 and in full-time education, and free for ‘Young Heroes’ aged under 16.

The charity’s spokesman added: “Now that we have established the Heroes Centre, and have physical premises within the area, we are in a position to start hosting innovative, fun events and educational activities and we want to ensure that the community has the opportunity to hear about them and actively engage in them.

“We are particularly keen to ensure that our work benefits the younger community.”

More information from the centre or online at helensburghheroes.com.