Havant poppy appeal launches as veterans tell heartfelt stories

The News, Portsmouth

The charity supports veterans and serving personnel through thick and thin.

Transcript

00:00Yeah, well it's great. Every year they come along and set up different places. Tesco's

00:27been our first one with the first sale, as you saw earlier. Andy's been doing a marvellous

00:33job getting everything organised around having the area itself. But yeah, very important

00:39next few weeks, get down and donate and get yourself some poppies and everything else.

00:46It's a brilliant appeal at the end of the day. They do an awful lot for veterans, not

00:51just Army, but it's all tri-service as well. I'm a bad person to experience that. A lot

00:58that goes on, lots of cogs that turn, sometimes a little bit slowly, but they do turn. It's

01:05the initial phone call from the veteran themselves or the serving person. That's the thing, it's

01:09them reaching out. And then the British Legion kicks into gear. You can phone up their call

01:15centre, which is 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. So they're open all the time. You'll

01:21get to speak to one of the girls there. They will pass on your information to a case worker.

01:27And then from there, it's like two to three days later, they'll give you a call back.

01:31And then basically you're in the system. Because they'll come out and visit you, fill out all

01:35kinds of forms, assess your mental health a little bit, assess your finances, what your

01:41issues are and everything else on the outside. And then they'll kick into gear, basically.

01:46There's a thing called the Form Alpha. And that knocks, they fill that out. All the charities

01:51do this. Knocks on all the doors, basically. So they all share the load of a financial

01:56burden. So Walking for the Wounded would chip in, Safford would chip in, regimental associations

02:02would chip in, things like that. So it's not coming out of one pot. And then that will

02:06go straight to your creditors, if it's financial. They will also help you get into mental health

02:13organisations such as Veterans Outreach Support in Portsmouth, Combat Stress, Op Courage,

02:18all sorts of different things. So they will refer you into those things if they can't

02:23find someone themselves locally. So yeah, a brilliant organisation, very well run at

02:27the moment. Hasn't been so much in the past maybe, but then they've shuffled up in the

02:32last few decades.

02:33It sounds like they cover all bases for whatever.

02:35Very much so, yeah. I mean, as a veterans hub, we refer to them as well. That's basically

02:41what our job is. We run the breakfast clubs and everything else to bring guys in so they've

02:45got camaraderie. It's like being back in a mess, basically, and you've got all your lads

02:51around you and everything else. We're open to the families as well, so the wives and

02:54the kids come along. And this is something that we're all trying to do now, working together

02:59through the British Legion, local veteran charities, and local governance as well. Because

03:04I'm actually part of the Armed Forces Stakeholders Group for Havant Barrow Council, we meet quarterly

03:11and they will discuss things that are going on in Havant for veterans, whether that be

03:15welfare, financial help, or just anything really. So they've basically helped me out

03:22financially for the last seven years because I can't work. I ran my own business and everything

03:27else up until 2017. A family event happened and my PTSD kicked in, as well as my physical

03:35injuries and everything else that have worsened over the years through my service. But they've

03:39helped me out financially to help with my creditors and things like that. So, you know,

03:45massive, massive help. And like I say, because I run the veterans hub, our raffles and everything

03:50else in November, we donate anything that we make to the British Legion in that month.

03:56So, you know, we run three or four raffles a month doing that. So, you know, I believe

04:02in their system wholeheartedly, basically.

04:04Long time, because I was a single parent and I was bringing my son up, trying to get him

04:08to school and everything else, as well as run the business at the time. But because

04:12of what went on, I had to fold the company. And then from then on, I had to sort out my

04:18own sort of mental health, living on a very small amount of money. So my creditors, the

04:25bills were building up and everything else. And then I got myself in with Voss down there,

04:29had an assessment done. I mean, that's how I found out that I had, my PTSD had come through

04:34and everything else. And then from then on, basically, it was their advice. I got into

04:43British Legion, phoned them up, they came out, assisted me, like I said earlier. Yeah.

04:47And then basically the amount of money that I needed to cover my bills, they collated

04:52Yeah, over a series of weeks. Yeah. And then they paid all my creditors off. Yeah. And

04:57that relieved so much stress off my shoulders. It was unbelievable. You know, and the feeling

05:02of actually being back in control of that side of my life was outstanding. You know,

05:08so my, like I say, every year now, all our efforts at this time of year go towards the

05:13British Legion.

05:14And for veterans and service personnel who might not, if they've got a bit of pride and

05:18they don't want to admit the problems that they're going through, yeah, you're a casing

05:22point.

05:23Yeah. Yeah. Let it go. Let the pride go. Reach out. You know, don't, don't hold back. Because

05:27at the end of the day, it affects yourself and your families and it's your families you've

05:33got to put first. So don't think about your pride and everything else and being a man

05:37and all that sort of malarkey. Yeah. Let that go. Reach out to anyone. You know what I mean?

05:42Whether that's local small charities, British Legion, SAF, walking with them and do Op Courage.

05:47I really recommend Op Courage. You know what I mean? And stuff like that. But yeah, reach

05:51out. Don't, don't hold it back because you won't, you'll just keep stifling. You know

05:56what I mean? And that's, that's the way it is.

05:58Every year, obviously, we all rally around. A lot of work goes into it before it launches,

06:03making up boxes, filling boxes, delivering them for the collectors. So important to remember

06:09the fallen and honour their, you know, what they've done for the country and the nation.

06:15And it should never be forgotten. Never.

06:17Because they've paved the way for the society we live in now.

06:21Yes, absolutely. And it's a bit of a worry because the generational thing, the Second

06:27World War and the conflicts that are going on now. And I don't know if people have that

06:33same sort of passion or feeling, you know, to honour the fallen. It's a distant memory

06:39now. Our generation, generations before us, it was fresher. But yeah, we've got to try

06:44and keep getting it out there so that people never do forget.

06:48Because we get together at breakfast clubs and we do other things. We do kayaking. And

06:53it's just great to get people together. Any problems, we share them and hopefully point

06:58them in the right direction, you know, for help if they need it. But it's just good to

07:02get together, a bit of banter. You never lose that, you know.

07:06So Sam, the Happy Poppy Appeal has just launched and you're going to be volunteering at several

07:10stages of it. Why have you decided to volunteer for the appeal?

07:14It's good for the public to see that serving soldiers get involved as well. It's not just

07:18the veterans. It helps us out a lot. It helps the public see that we aren't who they might

07:26think we are. We are present. And it's good for serving soldiers to understand as well

07:32that it's not just the veterans that they help, it's everybody. So they help a lot with

07:36their mental health when they leave the services or during the services.

07:42Last year I was down in Portsmouth, Portsmouth Football Club, doing the services down there.

07:48And then this year I'm in Havant doing previous, doing some time, just helping out wherever

07:54I can because it means a lot. It means a lot to me.

07:57You said it meant a lot to you. Why does volunteering like this mean a lot to yourself personally?

08:02So I've had previous members of my family in these services, got out and not really

08:10known what to do. So it's helped them leaning on the Royal British Legion, everybody else.

08:16So yeah, I'd like to put my part in as well wherever I can.

08:19Was that transition from serving life to civilian life hard for them to adjust?

08:23I'm guessing so, yeah. Coming from such a regimental background to being on civilian

08:29street, I guess it wasn't the best for them.

08:32And you said that the charity supports serving personnel. Can you give a couple of examples

08:36of how they do that?

08:38So there's a lot of numbers, hotlines, that the serving personnel and veterans can call.

08:46And they also do a lot of charity work, raising money for serving personnel and veterans.

08:53So how does it feel to have that outlet as an emergency for serving personnel if it's needed?

08:58It's great. It's nice that there is something that we can fall back on if the worst was

09:03to happen. So it gives you that warm fuzzy feeling.

09:08A few of my colleagues I joined up with in 1957, they died in their service. So we remember

09:16them every year. And this is a nice way to commemorate the people who have served, who

09:23maybe haven't got much of a life outside of the service. This is a nice community to join.

09:30Obviously mental health problems are something that a lot of ex-service personnel suffer

09:35with, but it's something that the Royal British Legion can help with for a variety of things,

09:40such as breakfast clubs, offering other services and that type of thing.

09:46This branch is very, very busy with the breakfast clubs and the social life amongst the soldiers

09:53and airmen and naval chaps who are still here.

09:57How important is it to retain that social life after leaving the service, do you think?

10:02Oh, it does, definitely. I still know people that I joined up with in 1957. And we communicate

10:10and we meet every year at reunions. It's a family. The ex-service community is a family.

10:22The Royal British Legion and the Poppy Appeal do fantastic work for our military families,

10:26serving personnel and veterans. And that's why it's so important for local people to get behind

10:31the Poppy Appeal as they do every year. I launch the Poppy Appeal every year. I have done this

10:35year as well. And it's fantastic to see so many people here supporting the Poppy Appeal. But the

10:39key thing is to make sure that people support it throughout Remembrance Day to make sure we

10:42support our veterans and military families and those serving on the front line.

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