What we do
Practical support – a Welfare Officer's experience
I'm the first person from Combat Stress that Veterans meet once they've been referred to us. If you split Scotland down the middle, north to south, I am the Regional Welfare Officer for the west side of the country. I've got about 360 clients on my patch, which is growing weekly.
I served for over 20 years in the Army so I understand the pressures that people are put under as soldiers. In my role as a Regional Welfare Officer I need to build rapport with a client so I tell them about my Service background which helps.
Clients are usually very anxious so I reassure them it's ‘ok' if they get emotional during our session. I go through their childhood history, what their background was like and then through their Service life. We will then go back to the key traumatic incidents that happened and work through them. We then look at what's happened to them since leaving the Forces.
My biggest client base is in Ayrshire - probably because our Hollybush House treatment centre is located there, and local GPs and mental health practioners know Combat Stress and refer Veterans to us more readily. My next biggest client base is Glasgow but this is rapidly growing.
I receive new referrals all the time. In the last few months, I've had about a dozen through a new initiative called ‘Glasgow's Helping Heroes' - a one-stop shop to help Veterans apply for benefits and jobs. The staff there are trained to spot if there is a mental health aspect to a Veteran's s existing social problems.
In 1987 I joined the Royal Engineers as an apprentice, spent five years as a regular soldier in the ranks and then went on to Sandhurst in 1992. During my Army career I did two tours of Northern Ireland, I was in the first Gulf conflict, and also served in the Balkans. I left the Army in 2007 as a Major without having heard of Combat Stress.
A few years ago I started working as a project manager in the NHS; I wasn't enjoying the job. Then a colleague attended a Combat Stress conference and came back asking me questions because he knew I was ex-military. I became intrigued by what Combat Stress was and the work the charity was doing. Literally within a couple of weeks I saw this job advertised, applied and, luckily, got it in May 2010.
I work from home and usually visit my first client by 9.30 am wherever they are. About 95 per cent of the time I visit Veterans in their homes. The remainder specifically request to meet in a Servicemen's club or a museum - somewhere that's public but quiet. They do this because they either don't have a home or are embarrassed about their living conditions.
Trust is one of the biggest issues in my role, so when I visit Veterans and they talk about a particular place in West Belfast or the Balkans, I understand: the geography, the terms a soldier uses to explain his job, the equipment he's been carrying, the tension, and the training. I can look someone in the eye and know what they are talking about without looking puzzled. Because of that shorthand, clients are more willing to talk about their Service experiences and what has happened to their lives since leaving the Forces.
People at Combat Stress invest a lot of time in the Veterans who turn to us; we also get a lot back as a result. When I go and see someone for the first time I never work to the clock. Yesterday I was with a new client for four and a half hours.
Most Veterans, like the man yesterday, have never had PTSD explained to them or what they are actually going through. He was very angry and emotional, as his life had just fallen apart in the last 20 years. Yes, my job can be draining but it s also very rewarding because I know that man was in a far better place when I left to when I first walked in.
Robert Lappin
Regional Welfare Officer
Scotland West
