Veterans Drop-In Service launched
Photo: Derrick Grubb and Michael Jennings, RAF and Royal Navy veterans, were at the Veterans Drop-In Service launch at the LWC.
Rowans’ Living Well Centre (LWC) has launched its new Veterans Drop-In Service.
The self-referral service is aimed at the region’s service men and women who are living with a serious or life-limiting illness and who would benefit from access to the complementary therapies, carers support and groups held at the LWC, or possible referral to specialist psychology/bereavement support.
The service also provides community engagement with those Veterans more socially isolated through their Veterans companion service.
The Veterans Service, which has been operating since spring 2018, works in close partnership with other Veterans charities, in particular the Royal Naval Association (RNA) and their Project Semaphore, and the NHS.
Project Semaphore supplies veterans who have been deemed digitally isolated, with iPads in a bid to reconnect them with the wider world by opening up the online world.
The RNA’s Captain Paul Quinn (retired) and Lieutenant Sarah Clewes (retired), both of whom run Project Semaphore, were at the launch.
Veterans Project Lead at the LWC, Tina Millard, said the launch had been a great success.
“The whole ethos of both Rowans and this new Veterans service is to support those in our community who are dealing with the challenges of a serious illness. Our Veterans have done so much for us and we now want to show we are here to support them.
“Today’s launch has been a fantastic way to show off our facilities and service and to engage with the Veteran community,” she said.
Veteran, Molly Morgan, took the opportunity to celebrate her 96th birthday at the Launch, and a 1942 military Jeep, maintained by Project 71, a charity run by volunteers and set up to support veterans, was parked outside the LWC to celebrate the occasion.
The drop-in service will now become a regular fixture at the LWC, with drop-in sessions held every Monday between 10am and 2pm.