Councillor Gravells shows support for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity

23 November 2022

Councillor Andrew Gravells visited SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity’s regional meeting in a show of support from the local council.

Cllr Gravells is the Armed Forces Covenant lead for Gloucestershire County Council and pledged his commitment to assisting serving and veteran members of the Armed Forces. To this end, he is in the advanced consultation stage of creating a specialised Armed Forces Hub to assist all those with connections to the Armed Forces in Gloucestershire.

Accompanying him was Helen Flitton, Head of Commissioning (Complex Needs), who acknowledged that their county had a large population of serving and ex-military persons, and that, with this, comes a responsibility to provide for the particular needs of that section of society.

Richard Farrimond, SSAFA Branch Chair, Gloucestershire, said: “We are grateful for the enthusiasm of Cllr Gravells. He is intent on raising awareness of the needs of the veteran and serving communities and is driving the partnership between SSAFA and the local council forwards.”

Why might service people need specific support? Apart from the normal stresses that everyone goes through, military and ex-military personnel often have poorer health due to injuries sustained at work. Their family situation can suffer because of sustained periods of separation. There is a significant risk of mental health crises due to stressful working environments. Service personnel often are institutionalised and find the transition to ‘normal’ life extremely difficult and confusing.

John, a SSAFA beneficiary says: “SSAFA helped me when I injured my back in Afghanistan. Not only did they provide support for me whilst I went through rehabilitation, but our caseworker also helped my wife, who was struggling to cope with my temporary paralysis and our small baby. Without SSAFA I am not sure how we would have coped because, due to being moved around the country every two years, we didn’t live anywhere near any of our family.”

If you are interested in volunteering with SSAFA Gloucestershire you can find out more here.