Stephanie Peacock MP Visits Forward Assist & Salute Her UK

Stephanie Peacock is the Labour MP for Barnsley East and has been an MP continuously since 8 June 2017. She currently undertakes the role of Shadow Minister (Defence). Forward Assist & Salute Her UK were delighted to host a visit from Stephanie and facilitate a virtual meeting with a group of women veterans with lived experience of in-service bullying , harassment, discrimination and sexual assault. A keen advocate for all veterans, she has asked numerous questions of Parliament in relation to the Government and MoD’s reluctance to recognise the term Military Sexual Trauma. (MST)

Independent Review Commission Recommendations on Countering Sexual Assault in the US Military

Forward Assist were delighted to give evidence to the US Independent Review Commission (IRC) on Sexual Assault in the Military. As the leading charity in the UK delivering and developing trauma informed interventions for serving personel and veterans with lived experience of Military Sexual Trauma we were delighted to update the panel on the lack of services for UK victims and survivors.

The IRC made 82 recommendations in four priority areas: accountability; prevention; climate and culture; and victim care and support. Key themes of the report recognized both strengths and areas for improvement; recognizing dedicated leaders and a desire to engage; and emphasizing the need to promote climates of dignity and respect, investing in knowledgeable sexual assault responders and the strong need for proper resources and training.

The commission was led by Lynn Rosenthal and twelve highly qualified experts in the areas reviewed. The team met with more than 600 people including military leadership, service members and sexual assault survivors.

You can read the full report here: IRC-FULL-REPORT-FINAL-1923-7-1-21.PDF (defense.gov)

North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll Visits Forward Assist HQ

We were delighted to host a visit from North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll to show him around our Veterans Health & Wellbeing Hub based in the the John Willie Sams Centre.

Jamie Driscoll was elected as the first ever North of Tyne Mayor in May 2019. He heads up the North of Tyne Combined Authority and, together with the six local authority Cabinet members, is accountable for its activity. As North of Tyne Mayor, Jamie is committed to driving forward his manifesto pledges around community wealth building, addressing the climate emergency, revitalising life in local communities, building affordable homes and delivering lifelong learning for the people North of Tyne.

Mayor Driscoll had the opportunity to meet a few of the veterans that access the centre and they talked about how the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns had impacted on their mental health and wellbeing. Like the rest of the UK we are working hard to be ‘covid compliant’ and hope to open up both Salute Cafe and the veterans and families ‘Drop In’ plus the usual weekly activities that improve mental and physical wellbeing at the end of June 2021.

We believe veterans are the communities greatest untapped asset and our veteran led community activities enable many to live lives filled with passion, purpose , commitment whilst being of service to others.

Thanks to a little funding acquired in 2020, we will also be employing more staff in the next few months to further develop our services for Women Veterans and Military Families. Hopefully our community based activities and skills in helping veterans and they families get ready for the employment market and sustain employment will in some small way, facilitate an economic recovery for both the region and local community who access the multi-disciplinary social care teams working within the John Willie Sams Community Centre. The next two years look like being a difficult but exciting time as we try to adjust to the ‘post covid’ normal. As always, veterans and being of service to the wider community, will be at the centre of our ‘soldier to citizen’ support service.

Under The Radar ...

It is one of the strange anomalies of life that we know more about the moon than the lived experience of the UK’s women veterans as they transition from military service to civilian life. It is also remarkable, and a cause for concern, that the needs of women who served in our armed forces have been completely overlooked by parliamentarians, academics and service charities since the end of the second world war. Read More: https://fabians.org.uk/under-the-radar/

Women Veterans ' Virtual Debate Training' Starts in March 2021

Thanks to funding from the Covenant Trust Fund we are, at last able to progress our Veterans British Parliamentary Debate Training Project. As such, we are delighted to partner with Parallel Histories https://www.parallelhistories.org.uk/ to deliver virtual debate training to women veterans in March 2021.

A team of eight women veterans will initially work with a group of students to learn the art of debate. During the course participants will gain an understanding of debating, confidence in public speaking, and the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills that enhance their ability to structure and organise thoughts and arguments. By enhancing the learners' analytical, research and note-taking skills, the women will learn how to form balanced, informed arguments using reasoning and evidence. The participants will also be invited to visit the House of Commons & House of Lords to see debates taking place in both sides of the House when the current C-19 restrictions permit.

The UK Government/MOD Should Recognise Military Sexual Trauma (MST)

We are campaigning for change. The Government and Ministry of Defence do not currently recognise the term ‘Military Sexual Trauma’ (MST) and as a result there are no ‘gender specific’ trauma informed services specialising in MST. The negative impact of such experiences can be devastating and last a life time without timely specialist support during and after service.

In response, we have lodged a Parliamentary Petition with the UK Government and it has now gone live. You can sign the Petition here:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/566588

“We call on the Government to take responsibility and action to provide 'gender specific' trauma informed, confidential and independent specialist interventions/support for survivors of MST. The UK Government & (Ministry of Defence) should, like our international partners adopt the term Military Sexual Trauma (MST) as a stand-alone and recognisable enduring traumatic experience that affects men but disproportionately women service personnel, during and after military service”.

Forward Assist are actively campaigning for equitable mental health support services & post service employment opportunities for women. https://www.forward-assist.com/salute-her”

Forward Assist recognise that women veterans are a hidden, marginalised, frequently ignored & forgotten population. We have been actively campaigning for equitable mental health support services for those traumatised by war, sexual assault and harassment.

Paula Edwards: Salute Her Project Lead & Mental Health Therapist Finalist in 'Soldering On Awards’ 2020

Paula Edwards was delighted to be shortlisted as a finalist in the Soldiering on Awards 2020. Paula was recognised for her outstanding work supporting veterans with mental health issues access benefits and entitlements. Paula’s holistic approach to trauma informed care and support has enabled many isolated and lonely veterans access engage with mainstream services transforming their lives in the process. Everyone at Forward Assist was delighted to see her work recognised in this prestigious award ceremony.

Bespoke 'Confronting Conflict’ Training Commissioned For Women Veterans

Forward Assist were delighted to commission Leap Confronting Conflict organisation to design a bespoke project for Women Veterans. The two day group work course was delivered at the Forward Assist HQ in early2019.

Eight women participants attended and completed the workshop. All eight participants who completed the course filled in the evaluation form which contained the following learning outcomes: ▪ Gained an understanding of personal relationship with conflict. ▪ Explore the difference between a reaction and response. ▪ Identified the layers underneath anger. ▪ A greater understanding of patterns of behaviour around conflict. ▪ Practiced a tool for communicating effectively in conflict. ▪ Developed self-care strategies.

We hope to design and develop more ‘gender specific’ interventions for women veterans in the coming months utilising the skills and expertise of a host of others through effective working collaboratives.