Member Directory

Rural Veterans Hubs (Kirklees)

Charity Number: 1204103

We hold two sessions per month (with ad hoc trips, meals out, education etc) and we are committed to supporting veterans and their families within the Kirklees rural community. We aim to provide social, services and sanctuary for military veterans. We provide indoor and outdoor projects, education with speakers on all manner of subjects from medical healthcare, (our local GPs were involved in setting these hubs up), history of the area, learning to do things, for example, cookery, wood whittling, wreath making, Jesmonite models. Our aim is to integrate some of our more vulnerable veterans back into society, with trips out, with doing some woodwork for a local school, art work. We have found that some of our veterans suffering with combat related PTSD are enjoying being with like-minded veterans and the more vulnerable are being looked after and are speaking freely with others about their trauma which is helping them tremendously. We have done questionnaires which shows we have got this right, with one veteran saying “we had saved his life”.

Contact Information

http://www.rvhkirklees.org/
Ruralveteranshubs@gmail.com
105 Stocks Way
Shepley
HD8 8DN
07394 630 371

Support Offered

We are fully supported by our local GPs and if we have a veteran we are worried about we can call that persons GP. (The GPs will then contact that veteran for a medicines review so that they can speak to the veteran and ascertain whether or not they need help). All our Trustees have had first aid training, MH training and some counselling (although we do not counsel our veterans).
We have regular talks from GPs, OTs, Physiotherapists, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and the aim is to ensure that our veterans do not miss out on their medical checks as the hubs were set up to address health inequalities in the rural areas of Huddersfield and veterans were seen to be the ones missing out.
We believe that whilst doing crafts etc our veterans are bonding with their colleagues and this is the time when they all get to speak about their ‘war experiences’. There is lots of banter and laughs.
We have veterans who are physically disabled as well as those with mental health problems, CPTSD, anxiety, depression, loneliness and some who are just there for the banter, talks and crafting sessions. Veterans are making new friends and with that comes the “If you need someone to go with you, Ill go with you” attitude, offering lifts and offering help with things that the more disabled veterans cannot do.
We liaise with the RBL, SSAFA if any of our veterans need help and support. We also liaise with the local council re: housing and in the past have used H4H for various activities.
The local social prescribers at our GP practices refer into us as do Walking with the Wounded and H4H.

Sailors’ Children’s Society

Charity Number: 224505

Children’s charity supporting Royal or Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleet families in severe financial hardship.

Contact Information

http://www.sailorschildren.org.uk
info@sailorschildren.org.uk
Newland
Cottingham Road
Hull
HU6 7RJ
01482 342331

Support Offered

The family support scheme provides child welfare grants, clothing and emergency grants.

Caravans available for a week’s holiday.

Emotional support and links to other support organisations.

Sale Sharks Community Trust

Charity Number: 1142956
Company Number: 07461043

Sharks Community Trust is the charitable arm of Sale Sharks, the North West’s only Premiership Rugby club. The charity was established in 2012 to help use rugby and sport for the wider community benefit, drawing on the core values of rugby, which are teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship, to deliver a range of community engagement programmes.

The use of rugby and sport has been used for many years to engage young people, and it is this interest that Sharks Community Trust seeks to draw upon. This includes delivering numeracy programmes in the classroom, linking sport with encouraging healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle, and delivering education particularly to young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). The Trust also has a comprehensive disability and inclusion programme, ‘In The Pack’ delivering a mixture of multi-sports and wheelchair sports to people with special and additional needs along with a successful ex-service personnel programme ‘Sharks Forces’ that supports veterans and their families with the transition from service to civilian with housing, employment and social and physical activity support.

Contact Information

http://www.salesharks.com/community
community@salesharks.com
Sale Sharks High Performance Centre
Carrington Lane
Manchester
M31 4AE

Support Offered

We offer services and activities to improve the physical health, mental health and employability skills of ex-service personnel and their families. We give them a visibility within their community delivering the project at community venues. Delivering drop-in social hubs to develop and maintain relationships with individuals who are sceptical and nervous at engaging with civilian society. Enhancing personal and social skills such as communication skills and confidence along with increasing employability skills and their well-being. We also work with the veteran’s family, introducing an intergenerational approach. We use our relationship with community rugby clubs across the North West to create a social hub for the whole community. We use gym and sport facilities based within clubs and use the clubhouse to host themed workshops. We also work closely with rugby clubs to identify volunteering opportunities as part of the programme. We create and offer a wide range of sporting activities for Veterans who are blind or visually impaired, there is a huge gap in the local offering from other key stakeholders in regards to physical activities suitable for Veterans with additional needs.

Scotty’s Little Soldiers

Charity Number: 1170528

To provide relief from the effects of bereavement to young people up to and including the age of 25 who have experienced the death of a parent who served with the armed forces of the crown.

Contact Information

http://www.scottyslittlesoldiers.co.uk
hello@scottyslittlesoldiers.co.uk
Unit 21 Bergen Way
King’s Lynn
PE30 2JG
08000 928 571

Support Offered

The charity is currently providing assistance to hundreds of bereaved Forces children and young people around the UK and services offered include guidance to parents and carers, access to professional child bereavement support, personal education and learning assistance (including grants) and fun activities such as holiday respite breaks and group events. These are all designed to remind the children and young people supported by Scotty’s that they are not alone.

Service Dogs UK

Charity Number: 1165409
Company Number: 9553131

Service Dogs UK is a unique charity that partners Veterans with PTSD from the Armed Forces and Emergency Services with specially selected dogs from ‘rescue’. Once partnered they embark on a 9 – 12 month journey together, where under our expert guidance, they reach accreditation as an Assistance Dog Partnership.

There is no cost to the Veteran for the dog, the equipment, training, food or insurance, the charity pays all the costs of running the programme until the partnership eventually becomes accredited. It is a challenging journey but the Veterans are supported every step of the way as they work alongside other Veterans with PTSD and mentors who have completed the course. They learn to work as a team, to get to know each others needs and to become an excellent partnership that is proud to be seen in public and wear the special red harness.

All of our Veterans have free ongoing support from us for the life of the partnership and are prioritised for successor dogs. A re-test is required every year at no cost to the Veteran, the continuous support and assistance provided by the charity is part of our commitment to those who have served.

Contact Information

http://www.servicedogsuk.org
getintouch@servicedogsuk.org
Fareham Marina
Lower Quay
Fareham
PO16 0RA
03301200755

Support Offered

Our training methods and our programme have been formulated following extensive research with the help of a Churchill Fellowship in the USA and the Netherlands. The programme has been proven at every level and is accredited internationally and a member of Assistance Dogs UK.

At each Hub we have a dedicated training team who are there to guide the prospective teams through the programme and onto accreditation. We have Veteran mentors who are on hand to provide support throughout the programme and we link in with other Armed Forces Charities to try and ensure ‘wrap around’ assistance if required.

Sight Scotland Veterans (Royal Blind)

Scottish Charity Number: SC047192

Established in 1915 to support servicemen who were blinded in WWI, today we help blind and partially sighted veterans no matter how or when they lost their sight – including those who did national service – to adapt to life with a visual impairment.

Contact Information

http://www.sightscotlandveterans.org.uk
hello@sightscotlandveterans.org.uk
2a Robertson Avenue
EH11 1PZ
0131 229 1456

Support Offered

Our offer is as diverse as those we support. We know that everyone faces different challenges and that everyone’s goals are individual. That’s why our team work with everyone in the way which is right for them.

We give support that ranges from practical advice and identifying solutions that help you stay as independent as possible, to vital emotional support and opportunities to meet others facing sight loss.

Sight Scotland Veterans can also provide specialist equipment free of charge to aid independence in day-to-day tasks – from talking watches, cooking aids and electronic magnifiers, to digital technology such as smartphones or tablets with specialist software for people with sight loss.

The charity’s expert rehabilitation team offer one-to-one assessments and tailored training for specialist equipment and cane and mobility training.

Sight Scotland Veterans also runs two activity hubs for veterans with sight loss: the Linburn Centre in Wilkieston, West Lothian, and the Hawkhead Centre in Paisley, Renfrewshire.

Smart Savings CIC (Veterans Regroup)

Company Number: 06995089

The Veterans Regroup project is managed by Smart Savings CIC, an award-winning charitable organisation that has been supporting the Armed Forces community in Cornwall since 2012. We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, registered with the ICO, and proud members of Advice UK, Cobseo and ASDIC. We are also a Veterans’ Gateway partner.

The Veterans Regroup project provides free support to Veterans, Serving Personnel, Operationally Qualified Seafarers and their immediate families across Cornwall. The project currently delivers six multi-agency Armed Forces hubs, supported by more than 30 statutory and third-sector organisations, alongside specialist money and debt advice, health and wellbeing services, employment support, and a wide range of coffee mornings and social activities.

Our friendly, informal Armed Forces Hubs take place every month in Bodmin, Redruth, Newquay, Helston, Penzance and Liskeard. Each hub offers a welcoming space where veterans, serving personnel and families can meet over tea, coffee and biscuits while accessing support with dental appointments, health and wellbeing, housing, welfare, employment, education and training, volunteering, peer support, substance misuse, and compulsive gambling.

We also invite employers who can offer guaranteed interviews for veterans to attend one hub each month, providing a valuable opportunity to learn about job roles, recruitment processes and pathways into employment.

Contact Information

https://veteransregroup.co.uk
jane@veteransregroup.co.uk
The Workbox
30 Ferris Town
Truro
TR1 3JJ
01209 212579

Support Offered

Multi-agency Armed Forces hubs, housing, health, employment, finance, wellbeing, welfare, social integration, peer support, social and outreach activities.

We work in close collaboration with military charities, statutory bodies, and local organisations to ensure members of the Armed Forces Community can navigate services effectively and access the support they need.

Special Boat Service Association

Charity Number: 1168876

To relieve members or their dependants who are in need by virtue of financial hardship, injury or sickness.

Contact Information

ceo@association1664.com
SBS Association
PO Box 1014
Hamworthy
BH15 4YT

Support Offered

Welfare and social activities.

SSAFA

Charity Number: 210760
Scottish Charity Number: SC038056

SSAFA provides lifelong support to anyone who is currently serving or has ever served in the Royal Navy, British Army or Royal Air Force and their families.

Each year, our staff and network of 7,500 volunteers are there for more that 50,000 people, ranging from D-Day veterans to the families of young soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.

Contact Information

http://www.ssafa.org.uk
marketing@ssafa.org.uk
4 St Dunstan's Hill
London
EC3R 8AD
020 7403 8783

Support Offered

6,500 trained caseworkers, operating through a local branch network, specialising in sourcing funds from assistance providers
1,000 volunteers supporting serving personnel and their families on military bases around the world
‘Forcesline’ – confidential helpline accessible from anywhere in the world: www.forcesline.co.uk
2 x SSAFA Norton Homes for families of wounded undergoing treatment at Selly Oak Hospital and Headley Court
3 x support groups for bereaved families, bereaved siblings and families of wounded personnel
Housing advisory service and housing options including a residential care home and temporary ‘Stepping Stone’ ‘housing for estranged families
Healthcare, Social work, victim support and adoption services for serving personnel and their families

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By @Cobseo 56 years ago

Afghanistan support

In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here