We rely on our volunteers...

30 September 2019

With more than 18 years' experience volunteering for SSAFA, Mike Peters is someone with a wealth of knowledge about how to help veterans and those still serving in the military.

His passion for the charity stems from his naval experience as a Supply and Secretariat Officer on the General List, which made him very aware of the difficulties some members of the services can find themselves in.

“It became increasingly apparent to me that, after they have left the Service, these difficulties can become more significant, wider-based and affect more of their families. It was something I felt my experience would allow me to help resolve. SSAFA seemed to be the channel for that work,” he says.

Mike, 79, from Oswestry, joined the Royal Navy as a Rating in 1956 and after five years was promoted, finishing 34 years service as a commander. His wife, Wendy, was a WRNS officer for 10 years and later joined the RNR.

“Eventually she was promoted to Captain, senior to me!” he says.

Mike began his time with SSAFA as a caseworker before he was asked to become branch secretary.

“With the treasurer and the chairman, I used to run the detailed day-to-day workings of the branch, from recruiting, training, supervision of casework, looking after the finances and paying grants for clients,” he says.

The treasurer then had to stand down and Mike took on both roles until a secretary was found. He has been treasurer since 2005 but now Mike has decided to step down so he can concentrate on more casework.

“Throughout all this time I have been doing a little casework, simply to keep my hand in and stay abreast of the trends affecting clients. I have now reverted to casework simply because my other roles are ceasing and I feel I can still do some useful tasks for the branch. I have also been an Honorary Representative for the Officers’ Association, so have widened my experience there too,” he says.

As a caseworker, Mike will be at the front-line working helping clients.

He says: “Once a request for assistance is recorded, a caseworker is nominated. It is their role to discuss the client’s problem and make a decision on the best way of providing help.”

That help could mean completing benefits forms, liaising with other Government or non-Government bodies or applying for financial assistance from a charity, national, local or Service-related body.

When a decision is made, the caseworker will monitor the situation to ensure the help provided is the best available, and to follow up any shortfalls. For long-term cases, the exercise may need to be repeated the following year.

Mike says each case is different and over the course of his time with SSAFA, he has helped many people, which is why he values the charity’s work so much.

“I am currently helping a daughter who has Power of Attorney for her father; he was a tail-gunner in Lancasters during WW2, and was shot down. He is now suffering from dementia and other conditions and is resident in a care home. It is clear that the daughter and her mother cannot continue to pay for the care and so I am helping apply to the local authority for financial assistance. Once that is decided, application will be made to a Service charity for help with top-up costs.”

For a few years, Mike has been helping a widow whose husband had been in the Royal Tank Regiment during WW2.

He says: “Her finances have run out and she now receives an annual grant of nearly £100 per month to cover the costs of the shortfall between her home’s charges and what the local authority will pay. This allows her to stay in a home of her choice where she is comfortable and within reach of her daughter.”

He has also helped a woman trying to look after a young son with severe Aspergher’s syndrome and a former soldier who had a serious accident during training and remained in hospital for more than 12 months.

“He is expected to be discharged relatively soon, and so I will be able to help him get settled in his home and arrange adaptations for his wheelchair,” he says.

Shropshire’s SSAFA branch costs around £15,000 per annum to run but in accessing assistance from other charities’ funds is able to deliver more than £215,000 of grants to clients.

Anyone who would like to find out more about volunteering for the SSAFA Shropshire branch can email shropshire@ssafa.co.uk or call (01743) 344220.