I took the decision last year to volunteer for the Armed Forces charity Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA). With the support of my manager, I was able to use my three days of volunteer leave to complete the caseworker course.
I volunteer in my own time in the evenings and at weekends because I decided I wanted to give something back.
I had a great career in the Royal Navy, starting as a Probationary Medical Assistant in 1983 and leaving some 25 years later in October 2008 as a Medical Services Officer, having reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
When I left, I was married, had two young children, we had our own house, and I had a good job to go to with the Health Protection Agency. I felt really privileged to have served and considered that I had been well looked after and lucky in my transition to Civvy Street.
At this point I could tell you to “pull up a sandbag” and I could “swing the lantern” and start telling you all my “ditties”, but this isn’t about me and my adventures, so maybe when I’m next in port.
I knew that for every success story like mine there were those who have an awful journey when they leave military service.
Being “roughie toughie”, ex-service people often don’t want to ask for help and sometimes don’t know what help is out there.
It can be tough for veterans. Often, they’ve been looked after all their military lives – housed, fed, told where to be and when, had no bills to pay and they may have hidden any evidence of weakness.
Even those who are married and have children will have been in rented married quarters and had support around them. This all changes on discharge and many don’t flourish as civilians.
As its name suggests SSAFA looks after service personnel from all services and their families. The only criteria being service for one day and it includes the whole family, from grand-parents to grand- children and everyone in-between.
I’ve been a SSAFA caseworker for a year and I’ve had a variety of cases to deal with, some simple, and some more complex. I helped an Army veteran get what the charities call white goods and brown goods – you know them as fridge, cooker, washing machine, furniture and carpets. Yes, their accommodation really was that bare.
I’m in the process of helping a Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC) veteran, who needs adjustments made to her home for health reasons, and I’m supporting an Army veteran who has fallen into serious debt.
The thing I’ve learned from doing this rewarding work is that charities want to help people and, no matter what the need is, it’s always worth asking the question. The Service charities are great, and they always seem to respond favourably to requests.
If you would like to find out more about how SSAFA might help any service and ex-service personnel and their families that you come across, you can use the Forcesline number: 0800 260 6780.
Date published: 19 December 2024
