For many modern day war veterans who carry the psychological scars of war, their home and family environment is often the new frontline. Wives and partners are doing their best, but if we are going to tackle the upsurge in domestic violence and divorce rates, we have got to improve proactive support to the whole family unit.

There were 79 recorded veteran suicides in 2018 and 5 so far in 2019. There are over 4,000 veterans in prison and over 1,200 sleeping rough. By supporting the family unit proactively, we can counter the decent into social exclusion which inevitably follows a relationship breakdown.

£20 funds one hour with our welfare worker. He is a trained and qualified Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN). He responds very quickly and is often the first professional to engage with veterans who are contemplating self harm/suicide.

£20 also funds an hour with one of our case workers. Case workers address everyday living challenges, such as housing, benefits, probation services, child access, support to partners/wives/children.

£90 funds one hour with a Clinical Psychologist. Only a clinical psychologist can diagnose PTSD. Current waiting times for veterans to see a Clinical Psychologist are 4 years+. Each individuals treatment plans are different, but between 12-20 appointments over 3 months will identify triggers and develop coping strategies for the vast majority of cases.

£1,000 funds a full screening program. This is a 3 month process, led by our Clinical Psychologist, that investigates every aspect of a veteran’s life (employment, family, financial, physical health, mental health, service life, etc) and produces a bespoke recovery plan specifically tailored to support each individual. The recovery plan integrates the work of many different charities such as Help for Heroes, The Royal British Legion and SSAFA.

£6,000 funds an entire recovery program for 1 veteran. From identifying the homeless or socially excluded individual, this takes a veteran through to independent living and sustainable employment. This recovery program is psychologically informed and reviewed weekly by the Clinical Psychologist.