Forward Assist CEO Shortlisted for a Soldiering On Lifetime Achievement Award

Now in their 14th year, the Soldiering On Awards celebrate excellence within the Armed Forces community across twelve distinct categories, ranging from Family Values to Business Start-Up and Animal Partnership. These awards aim to highlight ordinary individuals accomplishing extraordinary feats. Leading the selection process, Co-Chairs of Judges Lt Gen (Ret’d) Richard Nugee CB CVO CBE and Debra Allcock-Tyler, CEO of the Directory of Social Change, guided a distinguished panel of independent judges. They meticulously selected 36 finalists from an exceptional pool of nominees, with three finalists chosen for each category. A private reception at the House of Lords in July, hosted by Awards Patron the Rt Hon Earl Howe GBE PC, will honour the finalists. The winners will be announced at a spectacular black-tie event at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, 16th October 2024, hosted by special guest presenter Jeremy Vine. Tony Wright CEO said… “ Its an honour to find myself in such esteemed company and a great tribute to everyone, past and present that has helped me build a needs led and person centred service for thousands of military veterans and their families.” Thank you.

El Hombre Invisible: UK Male Veterans Share Their Experiences of Military Sexual Trauma.

Its interesting that for generations, the UK Ministry of Defence has failed to recognise that male military sexual assault victims actually exist, or that it has a duty of care to ensure that those victim/survivors have access to timely, trauma informed support and therapeutic interventions and/or compensation. Over in the USA it is estimated that about 10,000 men serving in the military have been sexually assaulted over the decades. Overwhelmingly, the victims are young and low-ranking. Like the veterans in this report, many struggle when they leave the military and have trouble accessing trauma informed support to help address their multiple and complex and unmet needs in civilian life.

In total we interviewed 30 male survivors of MST aged between 37 to 69 years. 17 veterans classed themselves as single, 10 were married and 3 were in a civil partnership. The majority of those interviewed had served in the Army 53.33% (n16) with 30% (n9) serving in the Royal Navy and 16.67% (n5) serving in the Royal Air Force. Average length of service across the sample was between 2-17 years.

Warning: The content of this report may be emotionally challenging for some people and the lived experience ‘first person’ narratives of sexual assault may be potentially triggering.

https://www.forward-assist.com/s/THE-INVISIBLE-MAN-PDF-Verison-10.pdf

Its a Fact, War In Ukraine Is Triggering Veterans:

Following the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the ongoing war in Ukraine it would appear that a non stop combination of graphic news reports and 24 hours social media posts, has led to many veterans of all ages, struggling to cope with unresolved trauma and poor mental health. This has led to an increase in inquiries to the services we offer and in particular the AFCFT funded Mindfulness of Dream & Sleep course delivered in partnership with Charlie Morley.Charlie Morley is a bestselling author and teacher of Mindfulness of Dream & Sleep. His 2021 book, Wake Up to Sleep is a practical guide to these practices. He’s spoken at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities and the Ministry of Defence Mindfulness Symposium, Tony Wright CEO of Forward Assist argues that,

“The role of a social worker in providing care for veterans has never been more important.

“Social workers are highly trained professionals working to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of those individuals who are struggling.

“They are in the best position to help and support veterans and their families through either direct practice, crisis intervention, care coordination, community organising and person-centred care.

“As I have advocated in the past, UK social workers should train to specialise in providing and coordinating multi-disciplinary support to those that have put themselves in harm’s way to protect us at times like this.”

Read more here: https://www.basw.co.uk/resources/psw-magazine/psw-online/war-ukraine-triggering-veterans-warns-social-work-led-charity