Live ChatLocal volunteer nominated for Soldiering On award
18 February 2020
19 February
Emlyn Phennah, of SSAFA Gloucestershire Branch, has been announced as a finalist for the Greenwich Hospital Lifetime Achievement Award at the Soldiering On Awards 2020.
Emlyn served in the Royal Air Force for nine years and had dual careers; serving firstly as a Ground Wireless Fitter and later as Aircrew in the role of Air Electronic Operator on Shackleton Sub Hunters and Wessex Helicopters, finishing in Aden with 78 Squadron.
Emlyn left the RAF in 1968 and was employed in the in the telecoms industry. His career went from Commissioning Engineer to Sales and Operations Director in India and Romania. He later retired and moved to Wales with his wife and signed up to become a SSAFA caseworker.
In late 2016 he moved home and transferred from SSAFA Clwyd to SSAFA Gloucestershire as their Joining Forces Divisional Secretary.
He is now part of the Joining Forces team based at Age UK Gloucestershire, which delivers support to older veterans in partnership with SSAFA. The project offers a variety of services including confidential chats, benefit checks, social connections, SSAFA assistance covering white & brown goods, home adaptions and many more. Joining Forces is open to all Veterans born before January 1950.
Emlyn also started a Brunch Club in Stroud and a Coffee Morning in Gloucester, with Veterans and families encouraged to attend the other nine Breakfast Clubs and Coffee mornings located in all Districts of the County of Gloucestershire.
Through Emlyn’s work, there have been an additional 110 SSAFA case referrals in Gloucestershire per year, with an average attendance of thirty veterans and several family members at the various Veterans Breakfast Clubs.
I am delighted to have been nominated for the Greenwich Hospital Lifetime Achievement Award at the Soldiering On Awards 2020. I am honoured to be a SSAFA Gloucestershire volunteer and able to support the Armed Forces community in my local area. The Joining Forces programme, in partnership with Age UK Gloucestershire, has provided a life-line to those who need it most and I am incredibly proud of what the project has achieved.
- Emlyn Phennah, Divisional Secretary, SSAFA Gloucestershire
The 10th Anniversary Soldiering on Awards will be held on 24th April 2020 at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, London.