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Claire Gooch is raising money for Supporting Wounded Veterans Ltd
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Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
I am thrilled to have been select as one of the Ski Buddies for the 2019 Supporting Wounded Veterans week in Switzerland. My role for the week is to support a wounded veteran face the challenge of learning to ski as part of a rehabilitation programme.
I am aiming to raise in excess of £5,000 to help fund the places for the veterans. As I will be covering all my expenses, 100% of your donations goes directly to the charity.
I would like to thank you for any donation you feel able to make.
Supporting Wounded Veterans is a UK-based charity helping medically discharged Veterans return to employment. Former military personnel, many of whom served in Iraq and Afghanistan, are supported through a specially designed ski-based rehabilitation week followed by pain management, mentoring, and employment programmes.
The charity held its first Ski Week in 2013 when 18 Veterans were taken to Klosters (the first resort in Switzerland to seriously embrace disabled skiing) for seven days of 'SkiHabilitation’. This is a process designed to help wounded Veterans regain their confidence, embark on the path to fitness, sustained wellbeing and then employment/occupation - 90% of Veterans who have worked with SWV are currently in employment/occupation.
Such was the success of the inaugural Ski Week, they have been held annually ever since, involving 26 wounded Veterans each year.
For the Veterans it is a start of their rehabilitation back into employment. It gives them a break from their current routine and provides hope for what they can achieve with targeted support and focus.The 26 Veterans attending the ski week are supported by their Ski Buddies, who, along with an inspirational team of adaptive ski and snowboard instructors, introduce the Veterans to skiing using specially adapted equipment (where needed).
The programme is specifically designed to enable the Veterans to regain lost confidence and start to rebuild their fitness and strength. The Veterans’ disabilities are incredibly varied and all of them have or are in the process of being medically discharged. They range from combat stress (PTSD) to physical (often life altering) injuries.
Many of the Veterans, due to the extent of their injuries and or circumstances are living very isolated lives. The Ski Week combined with the additional programmes provide and positively encourage a route out of that. Many arrive nervous and uncertain about how they will fit in and perform. Part of my role is to help them on the journey and it is heartening to learn that Veterans are able to discover a new found joy in doing something physical and healthy and are inspired by the beauty of the mountains and snow.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.