A Special group of Volunteers, recently formed to try and offer a much needed service of friendship, support and comfort.
Friendship, support and comfort
Star & Garter provide loving, compassionate care for veterans and their partners, who live with disability or dementia, in three state-of-the-art Homes. Services also include Day Care, Lunch Clubs and a Telephone Friendship Service.
High quality accommodation for long and short term care.
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.
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.
Samaritans provides completely confidential emotional support face-to-face and via phone, email and text message, around the clock every day of the year. Last year this equated to 5.3m contacts for support. Our 21,000 volunteers, working in our network of 201 branches across the UK and the Republic of Ireland answering a call for help every six seconds and are trained to support people in emotional distress and vulnerable situations, such as those faced by veterans, reservists and service families; mental health issues, relationship breakdown, financial difficulties and suicidal thoughts.
Completely confidential emotional support face-to-face and via phone, email and text message, around the clock every day of the year.
Provide supported independent living accommodation for ex-Service people and ex-Merchant mariners who are homeless or in need.
Help with benefits and pensions.
Financial support for residents on very low incomes.
128 high quality, single, en-suite rooms with full catering service in Edinburgh and Dundee. 25 affordable rental flats.
Practical, emotional and welfare support including housing support. 24 hour support warden cover.
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.
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.
Seafarers’ Advice & Information Line (SAIL) is a free advice service supporting active and former seafarers across the UK. This includes the Naval Service.
All advice is free and confidential. SAIL’s advice is given over the phone, by email or by post. SAIL also attends the VOS every month in Portsmouth.
SAIL is part of Citizens Advice.
Seafarers’ Advice & Information Line (SAIL) offers free advice and support to anyone who’s ever served in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the Reserves, as well as their partners. SAIL has 8 professional advisers.
Advice is given on a wide range of issues, for example debt, benefits, housing, immigration, the practicalities of relationship breakdown and much more.
Contact SAIL free on 0800 160 1842. For more on SAIL see www.sailine.org.uk
Smart Savings CIC is a charitable and award-winning Community Interest Company that has supported members of the Armed Forces community in Cornwall and Devon since 2012. We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, registered with the ICO, are members of Advice UK and ASDIC and are a Veterans Gateway’ partner.
We enable serving members of the armed forces, veterans and their families to access vital support services to tackle money, health, housing and employment issues.
Our team of veteran support workers use their own experiences to help fellow veterans and their families at our monthly drop-in and hub in Cornwall to confront challenges in their lives and manage their journeys of recovery.
Our team of FCA-accredited money and welfare advisers provide specialist advice and information relating to money, debt, housing, health and employment. Our veteran drop-in and hub offers peer support, training, social activities, refreshments and food parcels.
We work collaboratively with military charities, statutory bodies and other relevant organisations to increase veterans’ access to services and improve their journeys of recovery.
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.
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
Charitable objects are
a. Relief of need, hardship, and distress amongst past and present members of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces, and their dependants.
b. The promotion of efficiency of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces;
c. The promotion and maintenance of the heritage of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces.
As per objects
Chief Executive
CEO@supportourparas.org
Fundraising & Communications Manager
FCM@supportourparas.org
Welfare
HOW@supportourparas.org
Afghanistan support
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here