Soldier's medals of honour in safe hands

Published on Friday 10 April 2009 19:32

SELLING the campaign medals awarded to him for service in Iraq and Afghanistan was out of the question when Scot Steve was seeking funds to get his new business off the ground.

With a value of more than 2,000, however, the medals represented a source of income that was not forthcoming elsewhere.

Steve, 40, left the armed forces late in 2008, but after years of living under the radar and off the electoral roll, getting finance from traditional sources of credit proved impossible. "I was setting up the company as I was about to leave the services, but I couldn't get my lump sum payment until I was officially discharged," explained Steve.

"So I looked into anything that was not credit checked, including loans from family and friends."

Selling the medals was not an option, however. "The four medals would be worth nothing to anyone else, but I lost four mates out there and the medals mean a lot to me."

While searching the internet for alternative sources of funding, he came across borro.com, an online pawnbroker. Initially wary, Steve looked into the website and the company in more detail before deciding it was what he needed.

Like many Borro customers, Steve had not used the services of a pawnbroker before.

"There is a stigma attached to it and I would be embarrassed if anyone knew that I had done it.

"But this was a confidential and convenient way of doing it and I knew I would get the medals back because I was due thousands of pounds from my discharge payment."

The loan money raised by the medals landed in his account two days after sending them to the Borro vaults in London and the medals were returned recently at the end of the six-month loan term.

&#149 "Steve's" name has been changed to protect his identity.