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A new Veterans Moving Forward Course, co-produced with veterans and offered by Gloucestershire Health and Wellbeing College, launches in Cheltenham, next month (12 June).
The peer-led six-week course is open to veterans of the UK Armed Forces, aged 18 or over, and who are registered with a Gloucestershire GP.
The course will work closely with other NHS and community services, Help for Heroes, the Gloucestershire Veterans Hub, Op Courage, and other local and national charities to build clear personalisation of care pathways for veterans.
The course, developed by veterans for veterans, with staff trained by Help for Heroes, is an informal educational provision, which looks at improving wellbeing and mental health. It is designed to help individuals explore their feelings and discover what recovery means to them. From there, they learn techniques to help them manage their recovery journey.
It provides self-management tools and techniques for developing individual aims and goals, understanding the military mindset, learning to prioritise, plan, and make good decisions and better ways of overcoming obstacles. It also teaches techniques to promote mental and physical health.
The first in-person course launches on 12 June and runs until 17 July, every Monday from 10am to 3pm, at St Paul’s Medical Centre, in Cheltenham. An initial meet-and-greet session will be held on Monday, 5 June, from 10am to midday.
Erin Murray, Peer Facilitator and Staff Governor for the Gloucestershire Health & Wellbeing College, explained: “Individuals will be signposted to the Veterans Moving Forward Course through social prescribers, link workers, GPs, and community and volunteer services, and be able to self-refer.
“The Gloucestershire Health and Wellbeing College will triage all referrals. There will be 10 places on the course, and we will have a waiting list for those wishing to join our next course in the autumn.”
To discover more about Veterans Moving Forward Course call 0300 421 1623 or email ghwc@ghc.nhs.uk.
When a conflict ends, for some the battles don’t stop – they just stop making headlines. Veterans and their families are struggling with painful injuries, mental trauma, isolation, and more. This is the Veterans War. A war forgotten by many. But not by Help for Heroes.
The Charity is at their side. Giving life-changing support. For as long as it takes.
Help for Heroes champions the Armed Forces community and helps them live well after service. The charity helps them, and their families, to recover and get on with their lives. It has already supported more than 27,000 people and won’t stop until every veteran gets the support they deserve.
The Charity supports veterans from any branch of the UK military – regulars or reserves – irrespective of length or place of service, and locally embedded civilians (and their families) who worked alongside our Armed Forces.
Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk
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