Ukip leader Nigel Farage visited a veteran’s charity in Sandwich yesterday to talk about how it has helped to change lives.

Futures for Heroes based at Discovery Park aims to reintegrate ex-servicemen and women back into the community and stops them falling through the net into unemployment, depression and homelessness.

In Sandwich, veterans can volunteer their time to make furniture which is then sold in the shop to create extra funds.

Mr Farage who is standing in South Thanet was given a tour of the building by Linda Jones, founder of the charity.

She said they need all the help they can get from the local authority and government.

Mr Farage said: “What I hadn’t understood fully until a few months ago was the sheer number of ex service men and women who hadn’t integrated back into society, had finished up with drink and drug problems. It’s estimated that there are 9,000 homeless veterans in this country today.

“From going round here today, there was literally someone who had been found on a park bench this morning so there is a genuine gap in care for people. I think charities like this are really important.”

Roger Gisby, of Kennedy House, Ramsgate, is a civilian volunteer at Futures for Heroes and helps to build furniture to be sold on. He said: “If you occupy their hands and minds they don’t have time to be depressed. A lot of people that have come here, it’s started to turn their lives around.”

Ukip announced its manifesto yesterday which tied in with the visit.

Ukip would like to see more money spent on defence by decreasing the foreign aid, they would guarantee jobs for veterans who have served for more than 12 years and would create a veterans hospital and a minister to oversee it.

Speaking to the Mercury, Mr Farage said: “We would give them priority placing, particularly in prison services and the border agency, and that’s the job that the minister for veterans would do to make sure these people have priortisation.

“This is the election where no one wants to talk about defence. They seem to be under the impression that no one cares but I think they are wrong, they do care.

“They see the world is pretty unstable and we need to be in a position to defend ourselves.”

On the subject of foreign aid, Mr Farage said he would like to see it cut and evaded answering whether providing aid to countries and helping to make them more stable actually eliminates the need for stronger defences in the first place.

He said: “It depends how it is spent - too much of the foreign aid budget is effectively used as an arm for foreign policy.”

The Ukip leader said he has a chance of winning the South Thanet seat and invited all his constituents whether they support him or not to come to a meeting at the Guildhall on Saturday.