SSFAA, putting mental health and wellbeing at the heart of everything we do

SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, assists all service persons, veterans and their families in their times of need.

Why do our Armed Forces and veterans need a little extra help? Well, whilst it is every individual’s choice to serve their country in this way, being part of the Forces can sometimes throw some pretty big curveballs.

Families are often moved, either to a different part of the country, or even abroad every couple of years, meaning a physical disconnect from family and friends’ support networks. Because of the physical nature of many roles, the likelihood of injury and even death is higher than a ‘normal’ job. And there is no denying the mental health challenges faced by service people who have been on tour (seen active service).

There are also long periods of separation for families even when there are not active campaigns; Units regularly go away on training exercises and don’t see their families for months at a time. It’s not an easy life… but someone has to do it, and often issues manifest after a serving person has left, so supporting veterans is equally vital to supporting those currently in service.

SSAFA’s structure is much the same as the Round Table. We have a national network of branches who support service people and veterans in their local areas. Local branches have their own requirements,

depending on regional need. For example, some areas currently have a particular high need for food vouchers because of the increase in the cost of living. Other areas have serving families with extra childcare needs, or young single soldiers suffering depression because they are a long way from home for the first time in their lives.

SSAFA is a much larger charity than you might think and, nationally, SSAFA has many different remits – from assisting service families in adopting a child, to support groups; our ‘Bereaved Support Group’ is for anyone in the family unit who has suffered a bereavement of a veteran or serving Armed Forces person.

The ‘Military Families Affected by Suicide’ support group is for anyone in the family unit who have been affected by the loss of a loved one through suicide and the ‘Injured and Sick Personnel Support Group’ is for the spouse/partner/parent or carer of Armed Forces personnel who have been wounded or suffered an injury, or sickness.

We send military families who have children with additional needs on group activity holidays, giving them the chance to meet friends and have a supported holiday together as a family. We support Veterans in the Criminal Justice System and their families with in-reach workers.

Every local branch throughout the UK requires financial support and also volunteers. SSAFA, along with most charities, lost many volunteers throughout Covid and is struggling to replace them. From Mentoring (assisting service persons through their journey out of the Armed Forces) to Case Working (looking after veterans in the community), volunteering for SSAFA is a fulfilling way of spending some free time.

As you can see, SSAFA looks after all Armed Forces families in their time of need. If you would like to assist in any way, please contact Simon McNeillRitchie, who will be able to advise you on the best way to do so: simon.mcneill-ritchie@ssafa.org.uk

SSAFA Mentors recently attended the SSAFA Mentoring Wellbeing Conference in Oxford. Wellbeing and resilience, for both mentors and their clients are the very top priority for SSAFA.