After the loss of her close friend, Lewis Feeley, Bury resident Katie Wood has raised more than £3,000 to support veterans' mental health through the Veterans’ Foundation.
Katie says she is only just getting started.
Lewis, a former infantry soldier with 1 Rifles, served on missions in Kenya, Romania, and Afghanistan, earning the regiment’s prestigious Chosen Man award in his final year. After leaving the Army in 2020, he became a regular at Sky Bar, the local pub run by Katie and her father. Over time, Lewis joined the team behind the bar and quickly became part of the furniture—and the family.
“Lewis was always helping out,” Katie said. “He made sure the girls got home safe, helped move things, and even spent Christmas at my mum’s. He had a heart of gold.”
Lewis passed away in April 2025. The Police Coroner’s Officer shared that he had been struggling with his mental health in the period leading up to his death.
He leaves behind a young daughter, as well as family and friends who continue to love him deeply and carry his memory forward.
Katie says her grief has fuelled her mission to raise funds for the Veterans’ Foundation and support other British veterans who face the same struggles that Lewis did.
Her fundraising efforts so far include a comedy night with local act Reece Barnes, a skydive, and a series of raffles, with every penny going towards Operation Lifeline, a Veterans’ Foundation campaign funding urgent mental health support including crisis helplines, therapy, and peer support.
Lewis’s mother, Michelle Hardman, shared her appreciation for Katie’s fundraising efforts in a Facebook comment:
Thanks to everyone for their support in aid of an amazing charity in memory of my boy, Lewis.
Thank you so much Sky Bar for everything you're doing to keep his memory alive.
I'm forever grateful.
Katie is now urging the public to Sponsor a Veteran as part of the Operation Lifeline initiative. Sponsor a Veteran is a monthly commitment that funds vital one-to-one counselling, 24/7 crisis lines, support dogs, group therapy, and research into PTSD for our armed forces community who are in need.
“Doing good in Lewis’s name is how I’m coping,” she says. “I want his daughter to grow up knowing how much he meant to all of us, and all the good he’s inspired.”
If you need to talk to someone, you can contact the Samaritans by phone on 116 123. This phone line is free, confidential, and available 24/7.
If you are a veteran, currently serving personnel, or a family member of either, please get in touch with our friends at Combat Stress. Click here to learn more about how they can help.
