What we provide
Practical support – a Welfare Officer's experience
The first visit I make to a Veteran can be very emotional and tearful for them. Often it is the first time they have told someone about the traumatic events that have happened during their Service career. It's vital for me to gain their confidence and build their trust and that's where having a military background myself (like all of our Welfare Officers) makes a very important difference to my work.
Not all Veterans want our first meeting to be in their own home. Some are embarrassed about the conditions they are living in or just want to be on neutral territory like a supermarket cafe. One man arranged our first meeting at the top of a hill so he could see me coming and size me up in case he decided he couldn't go through with it.
Once there is a relationship of trust, it's possible to start helping people with some of the day-to-day difficulties they can be facing: housing, finance, war pensions, even pending court cases (often for assault or drunken disorderly charges.)
The practical issues are nearly always a result of the psychological damage they are living with. I can write letters for them or contact other organisations on their behalf and make them aware of what war pension and benefits they are entitled to.
With their permission, I can refer Veterans for clinical treatment with Combat Stress. They can then begin to deal with the root causes of the on-going distress they are suffering.
I'd say there was no such thing as a typical client although they may suffer in similar ways. The underlying cause is always unique to them. Sometimes it can be the result of a specific experience and other times the effect of multiple postings.
As I work a great deal in Wales, many of the Veterans I see served with the Welsh Guards, and even those who were together on board HMS Sir Galahad during the Falklands War have vastly different reactions to the terrible events they witnessed.
I'm passionate about helping these men and women because I know there is no agency other than Combat Stress that can offer the same training, support, help or resources to understand what they are going through. If my circumstances had been just a little different I realise I could be standing in their shoes. My aim is always to improve the quality of a Veteran's life in whatever way I can.
Mike Burrows
Regional Welfare Officer
North Wales, Shropshire & Staffordshire
