Veterans’ Foundation is proud to support The Poppy Practice. The Poppy Practice supports ex-forces personnel with free counselling sessions which can have a huge impact on the lives of veterans.
What does The Poppy Practice do?
To date, The Poppy Practice has supported over 80 veterans with counselling. The charity has been credited with saving the lives of 7 veterans who were suicidal. Through the support The Poppy Practice provides 4 veterans were found homes and were able to leave behind homelessness. 6 veterans were supported to return to work after their mental health deteriorated to the point where working was not possible. A further 9 have been able to curtail their substance abuse habits and 24 reported a significant positive impact on their lives. Providing veterans with someone to turn to and explain how they feel can go a long way to help counter the negative effects of life in the British Armed Forces can bring about.
The Poppy Practice receives referrals for veterans from charities such as The Royal British Legion and SSAFA. When these charities come across veterans who need the help that can be provided by The Poppy Practice they are put in contact with each other. The expertise of counsellors who work with The Poppy Practice also shares their knowledge with other veterans’ charities who work with veterans showing mental health problems such as the Defence Medical Welfare Service(DMWS). Along with other charities, The Poppy Practice is elevating the knowledgebase the veterans’ community has to combat mental health issues typically faced by veterans once they leave the services.
How has the Veterans’ Foundation helped The Poppy Practice?
Veterans’ Foundation has provided a grant that will ensure that a minimum of 50 veterans over 12 months will have access to sessions with well-trained counsellors who will work with them to combat any mental health issues they face. Many veterans struggle with money once they leave the Armed Forces. The transition between life in the services and life as a civilian can be extraordinarily hard. Amongst the other issues faced by veterans, mental health is one that can often fall low on any list of priorities. Lack of income, lack of knowledge, lack of confidence and lack of trust can all be roadblocks to getting the help veterans need, The Poppy Practice stands to help veterans get past each of these potential blocks to support. The Veterans’ Foundation grant will go a long way to ensure that veterans can continue to access these much-needed services.
This grant from the Veterans’ Foundation will also help to grow the knowledge held by counsellors in how to best help people overcome the issues that are often faced by military veterans.
