Mental Health United Kingdom Project #46263

Support for Emergency Service Veterans.

Project Report | Jul 13, 2023
A solution to the 'perfect storm'

By Dorinda Wolfe Murray | CEO

The long-term societal effects of the Covid-19 lockdown are only just being understood. What is indisputable is that the lockdown has profoundly affected our behaviour, with long-term implications for our children, the way we socialise, how we communicate and how we help each other.

Community-based support has never been more important; the long-term effects of the lockdown and the isolation imposed on society have been compounded with the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine, and a preference to communicate by social media and through call centres, rather than face to face with compassion and kindness.

For the Emergency Service workers at the 'disaster' frontline nothing has become easier over the last year or so. It has, in fact, become much harder as stress, the cost of living, the implications of the war in Ukraine have impacted everyone's lives.

We know that those currently serving in the police, fire brigade, and on the ambulances use foodbanks to get by and desperately need support and respite from dealing with day to day trauma. And we know also, of those who have retired, who have complex needs and were fortunate enough to be supported by FirstLight Trust through the donations you have provided us with. We have one such individual below:

Veteran S is a male retired Police constable aged 60 - 70 years

Veteran S was recommended to us by a patron of FirstLight Trust and asked for assistance with his Benefits and help to overcome the financial and mental health consequences from his benefits being stopped.

Veteran S had been alerted by his local housing officer that his receipt of Personal Independence payment had been stopped resulting in arreas of his weekly rent payment and council tax. The council had been unable to assist them on why this had happened or how to get this payment reinstated, but just advised them to set up a payment plan to repay the arrears, otherwise they could be involved in court action and evicted..

Veteran S only income was his Pension and PIP and with the latter being stopped, it could have resulted in them going into debt and losing their social housing.

FirstLight Trust was able to talk to Veteran S and reassure him that a support pathway could be put in place which allayed his distress and assisted with understanding the process of a disagreed benefit decision and its progress to tribunal with a potentially lengthy wait for an outcome. To alleviate Veteran S's distress a financially managed pathway of support was put in place.Veteran S was informed on how to budget his money and the repayments of housing arrears, without falling further into debt.

Veteran S had been diagnosed with Complex PTSD after leaving the forces due to the day-to-day trauma of incidents and accidents seen on their shifts as part of traffic police section. The stress, anxiety and worry over his financial situation and the debt has resulted in Veteran S mental state declining and the necessity of referring himself back to his GP for further health guidance. Veteran S has FirstLight Trust's full support is this, and he is aware of additional support and activities available to them, but choosing for the moment to stay focused on his finances and becoming stable.

The outcome is currently ongoing whilst they await the decision of their appeal.

Veteran S stated “I’m grateful for the time that you have given to me and unsure of what I could have done without getting more into debt or even homeless.”

Please help us to continue doing this wonderful work. Help us make the difference to their lives that so many Emergency Service veterans have made to ours. Every single donation helps.

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Mar 17, 2023
After shocks

By Dorinda Wolfe Murray | CEO

The after shocks of the lock down and of Covid-19 are only starting to reverberate through society. The effects are long-term and profound; the large organisations are becoming larger and the small ones smaller and in a move to cut costs and reserve funding there has been a shift to remote working - thus keeping people 'safe' and in many instances devoid of face to face support. Combine this with a drying up of traditional funding streams, the heightened cost of living and you have a perfect storm of 'awfulness'.

So what have we been doing with the funds you have been so generous with, and how are we making a difference to those who are doing their best in impossible circumstances?

At FirstLight Trust we believe in the power of people, communication and face to face support and most importantly listening.

We have been supporting and providing spaces for those in the Emergency Services to come together to talk and 'reset' their stress levels; shared coffee and cake, chatting in private to each other with those who understand what they are going through is a profound reliever of stress and that old adage of 'a problem shared is a problem halved'. It is hard to do this in the places they work - so being able to access our cafe hubs to hold such groups is a life saver.

We have helped with wellbeing parcels, welfare checks and are always here to provide support as relationships fall apart, as private lives are impacted by what is dealt with in the public arena. The support we give is confidential and 'under the radar' with counselling and quiet assistance always available to those who need it.

We are also working towards providing a safe space in London where access is easy for those who are in need of confidential, life saving support - NHS workers, police, and fire brigade.

Your funds help provide 'time out' for those whose stress levels are almost unimaginable and this in turn enables them to carry on the good work supporting us.

Thank you so much for all your support. I wish I could convey adequately the difference it makes.

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Dec 12, 2022
After shocks

By Dorinda Wolfe Murray | CEO

Coming to the end of 2022 we never thought that we would be dealing with the Covid-19 aftershocks, still. But here we are, and despite the extraordinary work that the GlobalGiving platform has enabled us to do through all the donations, we find ourselves still overwhelmed with need and still asking for funding donations.

Quite simply Covid has put a 'coach and horses' through all of our funding events and ideas. We thought that we would be out the other side by now, but it is proving tougher than ever.

Our front line Emergency Services are at full stretch, and we work with them across the UK on safeguarding issues; checking elderly veterans who might need some help and who trust the fire service to check their alarms; working with them to support the homeless, the lost and confused, and of course with those attempting suicide, or who have severe mental health issues. And as the days get shorter and darker the 'ask' on those who support us gets tougher and harder.

How do they 'defrag'; deal with burnout; loss; and the constant trauma of dealing with the unimaginable? And not just once, but day after day, after day? Many of those in the Emergency Services are veterans from the Armed Forces so work well in teams and supporting each other. However it is essential that there is 'down time' and support for when they need to 'chill'.

We have run Adventure Weekends, offer workshops as well as the all important mug of tea and shoulder for those we support. We are intending to run a whole lot more in 2023. Your donations will help us do that.

Much of our essential work is invisible given that the most important element we can offer is a listening ear, and the space and time to be able to 'take time out' and talk to those who understand.

Please help us do more of this - it is so needed; help us to establish a cafe hub in London where we can support all those frontline workers who need time out, a safe space to chill, and a shoulder to lean on (and of course a never-ending supply of coffee and cake). Such things are the gifts that you and we can bring to those who need it most. Please help us to do so.

For example we offer confidential space for groups of Front liners to meet up and chill in a comfortable and anonymous way. Sadly these tupes of spaces are all too infrequently available to them. The very nature of their work, means that it is important to retain and maintain their confidentiality.... so I cannot share a story with you about the results, or the importance of the work; other than we truly do make a difference to their ability to keep on going. Thank you.

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