Garrison church hall,
Christchurch Hall
167 Rodney Street
Sandfields
Swansea
SA1 3UE
What 3 words ///palace.ending.merit Swansea Veterans’ Hub (SVH) is a Community Interest Company (CIC) formed 24th August 2021 by a small group of veterans who have themselves experienced mental health difficulties. The Hub operates in partnership with several local organisations to provide mental health and wellbeing support and signposting for veterans and their families. With the support of Ospreys In the Community and Swansea City AFC Foundation, SVH has the use of a room at St Helens RFC. Open every Tuesday 11am to 1pm and Saturday 10:00-12:00 at St Helens Stadium with a drop-in Hub holding coffee mornings where vulnerable veterans can come together in a non-threatening, comfortable environment, allowing specialist volunteers to identify those most at risk, offer them wellbeing strategies, and signpost them to alternative therapies and treatments. In addition to these activities, SVH helps raise awareness amongst organisations and the public to the problems affecting veterans with mental health issues and how they can help. Demand for our services is expected to grow exponentially and we now seek to extend the range of services we can offer local veterans so that we can not only provide more high-quality activities specifically designed to tackle mental ill-health (MH), but also strengthen and enhance referral pathways to external sources of specialist help. Organisations supporting people are most likely to face increased demand and challenges because of the COVID-19 crisis, medical professionals and recognised support groups have identified the huge impact that the enforced lockdown has had on the mental and physical wellbeing of certain vulnerable groups of people in our communities. Veterans and their families who were struggling with various issues before the pandemic have found that their problems have escalated whilst at the same time seeing a severe reduction in the availability of professional support services. Many members of the armed forces have PTSD, physical injuries, disfigurements (including amputations) and need help building confidence and developing coping strategies to prevent su***de, substance misuse and depression. With our group’s support we can help them to access the support they need as well as provide opportunities to socialise and build support networks. SVH fully embrace and support The Armed Forces Covenant by ensuring that those who serve or have served in the armed forces and their families are all treated fairly. We are the only place in Swansea to offer face-to-face interactions for veterans, their spouse, and children which makes us unique as this can often be a barrier to veterans who need help but are dependent on their partner. SVH plan to provide veterans and their families with free match day tickets by creating partnerships with both sports clubs’ charities and work together to provide a wide range of support to the veterans’ community. We will do this by working with the local authority, Swansea AFLO and armed forces champions, Veterans NHS Wales and organisations that support veterans in the region. Children and family can also be victims of PTSD, often combined with other MH problems and therefore it should be across the board that the families and children should also receive support. It’s also important to recognise that not all MH issues are service related, and support should still be given, as untreated it can often develop into more severe symptoms and can then trigger PTSD symptoms due to added levels of stress. Prevention is far more effective than cure and this fundamentally includes the cost of such support, which is often a defining factor to the success or downfall of organisations.
