The Blue Print

Moving house or leaving a job can be stressful; leaving active service in the military for civilian life can be traumatic, chaotic and often unsupported.

Last week I met with a constituent who has left the army having served as an officer who faced the happy prospect of a long and productive career. This individual left because of an alleged period of bullying which caused a sustained deterioration in mental well being, leading to a family difficulties, inability to work and pay the mortgage. Poor mental health amongst ex service men and women is common, so too is homelessness. With all the evidence it is a national disgrace that so little is done to help our ex service men and women.

All too often it is merely left to the voluntary sector to pick up the pieces. Financial support provided by the Royal Legion and the Officers Association to those out of work and facing hardship goes some way to helping at times of crisis, their efforts should be applauded. The Big Lottery has also announced (March 8th) support for those leaving the forces with a funding boost of £35 million.

All of this is great but there is a question of the sustainability of just relying on the third sector who cannot guarantee the long term future of their work. Individuals need help not just to resettle but to cope with the biggest challenges of mortgage payments.

There is also the question of why the Government is happy to abandon its duty to help those who have served our country.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 2:28 pm and is filed under The bigger picture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.