ABF The Soldiers’ Charity has awarded Combat Stress a grant of £250,000 to help it deliver The Together Programme, designed for the partners of veterans with PTSD.
This dedicated programme for the partners of veterans, provides educational information about trauma-related mental health problems, as well as skills and strategies to help a partner not only support their loved one, but also to take care of themselves and their family.
As part of the strategy that Combat Stress engages with, and supports families, the charity spoke to family members’ about living with a veteran with PTSD. They spoke of their experiences of feeling isolated and alone with their difficulties. The loneliness that the family members felt was reflected in how valuable they had found it to connect with other family members. Combat Stress also offers the veteran’s family or support network an assessment to help them be part of the recovery process and to signpost them to other organisations as needed.
Jeff Harrison, CEO, Combat Stress said:
“Our research has shown that the outcomes for a veteran’s recovery are better when their partner is involved and by supporting the adults, they are better placed to support the children in the family.
“Engaging veterans, families and supporters is essential if we are to understand their needs. We are very grateful to ABF The Soldier’s Charity for this funding which will help us deliver one of our three family programmes and will enable us to complete further research to develop these services even further.”
Brigadier (Ret’d) Peter Monteith, Chief Operating Officer ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, added:
“Mental health and fitness is a priority area for our charity. We are always proud to fund Combat Stress each year, the nation’s leaders on veterans mental health issues. Combat Stress does amazing life-changing work helping those who served their country and need expert help with complex psychological injuries sustained in battle and other conditions.”
