We were delighted to be invited to visit Alnwick Gardens by our Patron Her Grace, The Duchess of Northumberland. We discussed how best to work together in 2023 especially in relation to facilitating opportunities for military families to access the variety of opportunities in the beautiful rural setting of Alnwick Gardens. Watch this space folks.
Forward Assist & Salute Her UK have always welcomed members of the LGBTQ+ community to access its services. We are delighted to have over 100 veterans that identify as LGBTQ+ and as well as setting up a virtual LGBTQ+ support group we are also carrying out a consultation exercise with the LGBTQ+ veteran community to ensure any services we create are needs led, person centred and designed for demand. If you are interested in accessing any of the above mentioned projects or groups please email Nicole Dodd at nicole@forward-assist.com
We are delighted to report that the Forward Assist Veteran Retreats will be back in 2021. Richard Skerritt has kindly agreed that we can use his property in France, in March 2021 for the Women Only Veterans Retreat. The male Veteran Retreat will once again take place in September.
Forward Assist has recently piloted a ‘Healthy Eating’ group led by a qualified Occupational Therapist focusing on developing:
cooking skills
planning and preparing nutritional meals
meal planning and budgeting
This has ensured that veterans are able to make the best nutritional choices for themselves to maintain and regain their health. The impact of diet and exercise on emotional and physical well-being has been well documented however, veteran specific initiatives and research are lacking. One veteran has gained a lot from the pilot and has used the knowledge and skills to continue his healthy lifestyle and lose 5 stone since March 2019.
We want to continue this project and look at the inclusion of spouses and families to ensure a holistic, healthy lifestyle for veterans and their families.
