Ninety-year-old Tom Conway arrived back at his Eyemouth home last week following a three-week trip to India, funded by the Big Lottery's Heroes Return 2 programme.

And now he is encouraging other veterans to take advantage of the scheme, which allows World War Two veterans from the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland to apply for travel and accommodation costs to visit the places where they saw active service.

War widows and widowers of veterans are also eligible for funding, which must be applied for by the end of this year (2010) and carers and spouses can receive funding to travel with veterans.

Up to £5,500 is available from Heroes Return 2, depending on the number of people taking part and the destination.

"I read somewhere, I can't remember where but it was only very small, about Heroes Return celebrating the 65th anniversary of World War Two," explained Mr Conway.

"There was money from the Big Lottery available to provide some funds for those who served during the War to revisit where they served, so I applied for this.

"It provides for the person himself and his wife and a carer. It is actually quite generous.

"We were already thinking of going back to India to attend a conference, then I saw this. We thought we could combine the two, the money we got from Heroes Return provided us with everything we needed.

"I was delighted my wife was happy to come with me to India, despite the fact she doesn't like travelling long distances!

"My brother in law has just retired as a regular officer in the army and he came as my carer. The grant was very generous."

Mr Conway served with the Indian Army for nearly seven years throughout the Second World War, spending three years in the Western Desert with his regiment, before moving to Burma. Following his return more than 65 years later, he said the country where he saw his active service had certainly changed.

"I would not say it's unrecognisable but there are huge differences," said Mr Conway.

"Every student there now has very advanced mobile phones, in my day there weren't even radios.

"You get about in tuk tuks which are their form of taxis, they are all motorised and quick now.

"This is modern India, when I was there before they were all pulled by cyclists.

"Deli is producing spaghetti junctions and some wonderful buildings and things are changing in India very fast."

But although there has been an advance, Mr Conway said there is still terrible poverty in parts of the country.

The first part of the trip was spent on an organised journey throughout south India, when Mr Conway, his wife and brother-in-law joined 25 others, travelling from coast to coast over two weeks.

"We went from coast to coast across south India on this little bus, staying at the best hotels," he said.

"We all enjoyed it hugely, it was fantastic, a super experience and we just feel so grateful that we were able to do it."
Remarkably, Mr Conway wasn't the only World War Two veteran on the bus tour.

"When I got the grant from Heroes Return they included this little navy blue bag saying 65th anniversary on it, with mosquito cream, sun cream and a water bottle," explained Mr Conway.

"When we got off the plane in Bangalore, there was a man with the same bag!

"His son was with him as his carer, he was from England and had been a pilot in the air force in India.

"He was 88 and had come back on the same thing, on the same package as us, it was an incredible coincidence!"

Mr Conway divided his trip into two parts - after spending two weeks on the package tour, he attended a conference of the Indian University of the Third Age (U3A) in central India, which involved a very long train journey from Deli.

"U3A has many branches in the UK, including Berwick," he explained.

"It's for elderly people who are interested in doing all sorts of things, teaching and learning from each other.

"We were representing Scotland at the conference, but there were delegates from South Africa, Singapore, Nepal, Australia and Iceland.

"This was the first major conference of the U3A in India so they invited everybody from around the world. We were the only delegates from Scotland."

On his return from India, Mr Conway described meeting a fellow veteran who didn't know about the scheme.

"I met an ex-soldier in Berwick who knew nothing about this," he said.

"We consider it very generous and I'm horrified that people would not know about it.

"You get funding to go where you served so people could go to France, the Phillipines, where ever they were stationed.

"There's money there which is not being taken as there are not so many of us left.

"I want people to know because it must be done by the end of the year - if people want to go they have got to get a move on!

"I do know there are ex service people who served in World War Two who do not know anything about it.

"It worked perfectly well for us, there were no great problems. People can apply to me if they have concerns, they should not be deterred, it's affordable within the grant.

"I think it would be a great pity if people who served in World War Two do not take advantage of this."

If you have any questions about the scheme and whether you are eligible, ring the application helpline on 0845 0000 121 or email general.enquiries@biglotteryfund.org.uk