Time is running short for the Bermuda War Veterans Association, now precariously short on funds.

With just three years remaining in its reserves, the group is appealing for help in its support for a group of 11 veterans and their dependents.

“I don’t see us being able to pay our expenses if we can’t raise more,” said the group’s president, Jack Lightbourn, speaking shortly before Remembrance Day.

The association has acquired extra burdens as its officers get older, according to Mr Lightbourn: the organisation is increasingly reliant on external help for administration, which comes at a cost.

The youngest of its members is 89, while the group itself was established 96 years ago.

Grateful for the corporate and public generosity that has sustained it, Mr Lightbourn said the association would have been unable to provide financial support ten years ago, had it not been for its reserves. The association was once active selling tags and ran a club that was “well patronised”, he said.

“The club was only allowed to spend 50 per cent, and the other 50 per cent had to be put aside for the needs of veterans,” Mr Lightbourn said.

“We were fortunate enough to be able to get that up high.”

However, just three years’ worth of funds remain in the bank for the organisation to continue paying out roughly $120,000 in financial assistance.

At present, public collections cover about a quarter of that.

“We are not able to go out collecting on the streets any more — it’s very difficult to get the amount of people we need to help us,” Mr Lightbourn told The Royal Gazette.

“Unless we can get 12 or 20 people to go out on the streets, it’s not worth people’s while.

“We are much better sending out letters and advertisements.”

Peter Darling, a veteran of the Royal Marines, said the association had struggled with funding for years now.

“The association is doing what it can,” he said.

“I support it, obviously, just less than I used to.

“My wife and I have had to make drastic cuts on what we give to charity.

“They have always been short of money but any charity has less these days.”

The group’s appeal went out as the Island prepared to mark Remembrance Day.

The parade commemorating those who served and fell in two World Wars will embark at 10.30am, with Michael Dunkley and Governor George Fergusson leading the laying of wreaths at the Cenotaph, along with the war memorial on the grounds of Cabinet.

The ceremony will take place in the Anglican Cathedral in the event of bad weather.

“Though the numbers on parade sadly decline each year, that spirit is still strong and it is with considerable pride that Bermuda pauses on Remembrance Day to reflect on their service,” the Premier said. “We will remember them.”

Walter Roban, the shadow national security minister, said: “It is so important to be reminded that the freedoms and privileges we enjoy were hard fought for by young men and women on our shores and on battlegrounds in distant lands, some never to return.

“Each generation of Bermudian must be instilled with an understanding of the value their service and sacrifice means to all of us. It is so crucial to our history that we now make sure all who have served receive their rightful benefit and are all commemorated on the Cabinet Grounds with a fitting memorial.”

Attrition has also taken its toll on the ageing support base for the Bermuda War Veterans Association, according to William Adams, secretary and trustee for the group.

“Quite a few of the people that used to help us have passed on,” he said.

“Our organisation was started at the end of the First World War to help the veterans and their dependents. Mr Lightbourn and myself are both veterans of the Second World War — there are so few of us left that we can’t get out there and run a tag day like we used to do. Our problem also is that the people we are supporting are at least 90 years old.”

Time had steadily taken its toll on the association, which once owned a club on Dundonald Street but opted in May of 2000 to close it down.

Frank Farmer, the president of the day, said the ageing membership no longer needed a full-time location.

In 2011, the association announced a sharp cut in its services — again citing an ageing population of donors. It had also lost $45,000 from its shares at Butterfield Bank.

For its annual appeal, the association is sending out letters to the roughly 300 donors and companies that have maintained it over the years.

The association supports Bermudians who volunteered for service overseas during the Second World War and Korean War, assisting veterans and widows in need of help.

To assist Bermuda’s veterans, please donate or write to the association at: P O Box HM 2716, Hamilton HM LX