Bermuda may be a small island but it is full of unsung heroes — inspirational residents who are making a real difference in their communities and improving the lives of others, without expecting any recognition or praise. In our regular feature, we celebrate the incredible achievements of the ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things.

Carol Everson selflessly devotes her time and energy to helping others, but she refuses to believe that she is a champion of our community.

“I’m not a hero,” she insists. “The unsung heroes are our war veterans.”

Ms Everson volunteers as a welfare case worker with the Bermuda Legion, assisting the Island’s veterans and their widows in any way she can.

There are 210 veterans who receive a government pension, plus “five or six” others who moved to Bermuda after their service, she said.

From helping them to get the benefits they are entitled to and contributing to the Remembrance Day poppy appeal, to aiding with Christmas donations and visits, she and the Bermuda Legion’s team of volunteers work tirelessly to make the lives of former soldiers more comfortable.

Ms Everson, who served with the Bermuda Regiment for nine years after signing up in 2002, first got involved with the veterans in 2003.

“A friend in the Regiment asked me to find out about his grandfather,” she said. “What I found was quite tremendous. His grandfather served in the First World War and the Second World War, and as a 19-year-old soldier he was in the trenches at the Battle of the Somme.

“He was also a magnificent drummer and kept the whole band marching from St David’s to Warwick Camp. He was a great character, but he died in the early 1960s. At the time, he was sleeping rough in a church and it burned down with him inside. I found that really sad. He had a wonderful life, done all his service, yet had nothing to show for it.”

Ms Everson soon began meeting other veterans and their widows, and found more tragic tales.

“I was meeting people who were in need and hadn’t had any recognition,” she said. “That really concerned me. I found at least one veteran living on the streets, others with terminal cancers who never had treatment and a fair few in derelict or totally unsuitable housing.”

Ms Everson also met veterans who had been the victims of financial and physical elder abuse.

“There seemed to be a whole community of people for whom there had been no recognition and no real reward for the fact they put their lives on the line for the country,” she said.

The Bermuda Legion’s team, including Ms Everson, who is English, is dedicated to supporting veterans and their families in a variety of ways.

This includes plans to host a training course for the families and caregivers of those with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and the annual poppy appeal. The Bermuda Legion distributed more than 12,000 poppies this year, up from 1,300 in 2007. The number of Remembrance Day wreaths distributed has also risen from eight to almost 40 over the same period.

“We’ve got our own designer poppy now; it’s silk,” Ms Everson said. “Our own individual poppy for our organisation. The wreaths are made by disabled ex-servicemen.”

All money donated to the appeal goes towards the Legion’s welfare and advocacy work in Bermuda, and the amount raised this year is still being counted.

Ms Everson said that she was “very grateful” to the Regiment, Governor George Fergusson and Michael Dunkley, the Premier, for helping to distribute poppies, especially since the soldiers had been “working flat out” since Hurricane Gonzalo.

She also praised Mr Fergusson for a unique donation: branches that had fallen from a cedar tree planted by Winston Churchill at the end of the last war, which will be crafted into gifts and sold to raise funds. Ms Everson and her fellow volunteers also visit schools to give talks about Bermudians’ roles in the wars, “emphasising their bravery and commitment to service” and that “one individual can be a great and powerful force for good”.

The Bermuda Legion, a member of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League, is now busy working on a Christmas appeal and welcomes contributions from the public — either monetary, non-perishable food, toiletries or items such as warm blankets.

“We try to visit as many veterans as possible,” Ms Everson said. “We have approximately 40 veterans in nursing homes and we try to take them as many comforts and treats as we can. For people living on their own, we get groceries, try to take them a gift and a card.

“We try to reach as many people in the veterans community as possible. The public can contribute if they wish.”

The volunteers also assist with securing medical treatment at home and overseas, loaning medical equipment such as wheelchairs and walkers when needed free of charge, and making sure elderly veterans are taken care of.

“The last days of life should be as full of love and security as the first,” Ms Everson said. “If anybody needs anything, we can help.”

• To donate to the Bermuda Legion’s Christmas appeal, funding can be sent to HSBC account 010-731354-001. You can also e-mail Ms Everson at nosoldierleftbehind@hotmail.com or call 293-3975.

•Do you know an Unsung Hero? Call Leanne on 278-0157 or e-mail lmcgrath@royalgazette.com