Welcome to SSAFA Mental Wellbeing

Welcome to all our valuable volunteers from SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. I would like to thank you for your efforts and dedication and for making a difference to those you support in the Armed Forces community.

My name is Stuart Irons, and I am SSAFA's Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager. During the past few years, we have seen a growth in requests from our volunteers asking for support with cases. These cases have become more complicated with many of our beneficiaries requiring specialist support for a range of mental ill health and wellbeing issues.

To help you support those who are dealing with these issues our Mental Wellbeing service has useful information, support and guidance.

Please note our service does not include clinical support or mental health assessments.

Our Mental Wellbeing service:

  • Provides advice and support to volunteers and employees in order to support beneficiaries with mental wellbeing challenges;
  • Develops and maintains resources that enable caseworkers to support beneficiaries with mental wellbeing needs;
  • Provides a single point of contact for volunteers/employees requiring support with cases that have an identified mental wellbeing need;
  • Provides expert advice, support, and problem-solving techniques.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager's role includes:

  • Supporting our network of volunteers and employees, and assisting them in helping our beneficiaries;
  • Providing one-to-one guidance for employees and volunteers that require help with a particular case, or need advice on where to get the best support for a particular situation;
  • Identifying gaps in services or training in order to develop our services, as well as opportunities for SSAFA to improve as it develops this new area of mental wellbeing support.

Please note that I will not be providing clinical support or mental health assessments.

80% of SSAFA veterans have a long-term physical or mental health problems*

77% of SSAFA veterans felt they were not fully prepared for civilian life*

The information on these pages are for you, SSAFA volunteers and employees, to assist and support you to ask those important questions. Making Every Contact Count (MECC) applies to every person who needs it, this tool works for veterans, serving members and the general public, and asking these questions will give you the opportunity to make a real impact with the beneficiaries you support.

Below is the link to the mental wellbeing page on SSAFA.net which includes a group email box to contact for any support or advice:

https://ssafa365.sharepoint.com/SitePages/about-us/ssafa-services/mental-health-wellbeing.aspx

* SSAFA Research Report, The Nation's Duty: Challenging society's disservice to a new generation of veterans.