Please donate blood and save a life this Christmas!

 Facts and figures

• 1 in 4 of us will need a blood transfusion in our lives yet only 3% of those eligible give blood.
• In 2023, 1.44 million blood donations were made by 785,000 amazing individuals.
• The NHS needs 140,000 new first-time donors this year.
• Sickle cell is the UK's fastest-growing genetic disorder, and many patients require regular blood transfusions. For the best treatment, patients benefit from blood transfusions from donors of the same ethnicity.
• To ensure the donor base reflects the diversity of patients, the NHS needs 12,000 new donors of Black heritage this year.
• O negative is the universal blood type, crucial in emergencies or when a patient's blood type is unknown. Although only 8% of the population has O negative blood, it accounts for 15% of hospital orders.
• There are 25 permanent blood donation centres across the country, with the most appointments for donors in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, and London.

Give the best gift this winter: give blood. You can register and book an appointment at blood.co.uk, by calling 0300 123 23 23 or on the NHS Give Blood app.​

NHS 'Help Us, Help You' - Pharmacy First

Community pharmacies can offer treatment and when appropriate some prescription medicine, for seven common conditions without patients needing to see a GP, as part of a major transformation in the way the NHS delivers care.

Highly trained pharmacists at more than nine in ten pharmacies can now assess, treat, and when appropriate, provide some prescription medicine for earache (for those aged between 1 and 17), impetigo, infected insect bites, shingles, sinusitis, sore throat, urinary tract infections (UTIs) for women aged 16-64 - without the need for a GP appointment.

Available at the heart of local communities, community pharmacy teams have the right clinical training to give people the health advice they need, with no appointment necessary and private consultations available. Community pharmacists will signpost patients to other local services where necessary.
By expanding the services community pharmacies offer, the NHS is aiming to help free up GP appointments and give people more choice in how and where they access care.

Don't wait for minor health concerns to get worse – think pharmacy first and get seen by your local pharmacy team.
For more information, visit nhs.uk/thinkpharmacyfirst

Domestic Abuse - Help is at hand

 

Tots of Fun session on the 28th November 2024 between 09:30 and 11:00

 

New Armed Forces Carer’s Passports are introduced

Today is Carer's Rights Day, Defence is committed to supporting those with caring responsibilities and has recently launch Armed Forces Carer's Passports and Carer's leave.  Speak to your manager or check out the AF Carer's Passport DIN to find out more!​

Bounce Forward - Anxiety Unravelled online course starts 14th Jan

Registration is now open for the next Anxiety Unravelled course for military parents and carers, funded by The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

This the 3rd of three courses being delivered in response to what military parents told us they need, both for themselves and for their children. There are more than 100,000 children with parents actively serving in the British Armed Forces, and the number of children seeking support for mental health problem is rising. 

 

Wellbeing of the adults impacts children, if adult wellbeing is poor, then it can pass on through to their children. Children are often the forgotten service members with limited research into the impact they feel, so they are often left to struggle alone. 

This course helps parents to understand and recognise how best to develop resilience in their children. 

 

​Places are FREE of charge, and there are 500 funded places.  Register at this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DjhF8eEjRwuVRveN0cSPmw

GamCare's support group for all women

Way Forward is GamCare's support group for all women affected by someone else’s gambling harm. Groups aim to provide a safe, supportive and confidential space for women to share their experiences, find comfort and empower one another.


Way Forward online sessions are semi-structured, running for 1.5 hours over six weeks. Groups are led by trained facilitators specialising in supporting women who are affected by gambling-related harms.

Stem Cell Donation: Sign up to save a life!

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer.

Stem cell transplants are used to treat blood cancers like leukaemia, aplastic anaemia as well as other diseases of the immune system. Chemotherapy can help in some cases, but for many people a stem cell transplant is the only chance of a cure.

30,000 new donors are needed in the UK each year to find matches for the steadily rising number of stem cell transplants taking place in the UK every year. Stem cells are found in the bone marrow – a soft, spongy tissue at the centre of certain bones – and can produce all essential blood cells, including red and white cells and platelets (which stop bleeding).

Give blood and save a life Sign up today

AWS Community Support Annual Report 2024

The Army Welfare service is proud to present the AWS Community Support Annual Report for 2024.  

This Report outlines some of the key achievements delivered and challenges faced by our team over the past year. 

It provides an overview of key areas of work, statistical information and also looks forward to the year ahead. 

It demonstrates the breadth and depth of the impact that the Community Support team have.​

Read the report here.

Places where kids eat free (or for £1) this October half-term

 

2024 UK Half Term Kids Eat for Free List

Stem Cell Donation: Sign up to save a life!

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with blood cancer.

Stem cell transplants are used to treat blood cancers like leukaemia, aplastic anaemia as well as other diseases of the immune system. Chemotherapy can help in some cases, but for many people a stem cell transplant is the only chance of a cure.

30,000 new donors are needed in the UK each year to find matches for the steadily rising number of stem cell transplants taking place in the UK every year. Stem cells are found in the bone marrow – a soft, spongy tissue at the centre of certain bones – and can produce all essential blood cells, including red and white cells and platelets (which stop bleeding).

Give blood and save a life Sign up today

Travel to Refuge Scheme: Free travel for those fleeing domestic abuse

Travel to Refuge is an umbrella scheme in which travel companies cover the cost of train or coach tickets for women, men and children escaping domestic abuse travelling to refuge accommodation. It’s made up of two schemes:

Rail to Refuge, a joint initiative between Women’s Aid and the Rail Delivery Group, set up in April 2020, providing free rail travel for survivors of abuse.

Road to Refuge, a joint initiative between Women’s Aid and National Express, set up in 2023, providing free coach travel for survivors of abuse.

For more information please visit: Travel to Refuge

Army Health Promotion: New Leaflet - An Individual's Guide to Mental Fitness

 

Mental health fitness help guide for Army personnel. Use this link to read the leaflet in full. If you would like immediate support please contact the the Welfare team or the Padre at Brydon House. 

Headspace App: Free Enrolment for Army Personnel and MOD Civilian Staff

Please use your mod.gov.uk email address to sign up before downloading the App. Link to enrol: Headspace for Work.

World Mental Health Day - 10th October: Defence Relaunch of HeadFIT for 2024

HeadFIT is an externally accessible website, developed by Defence to assist our people in developing a proactive approach to mental fitness. 

It provides techniques and methods to manage your mental resilience, enhance your mood, and improve your confidence. For further information please go to: HeadFIT - Success, it's all in your head.

Tri-Service Military Youth Voice Survey for 8-17 Year Old's - Closes Sat 31 Aug

The Tri-Service Youth Voice Steering Group would like to give children and young people the opportunity to tell us about their experiences of living in a Forces family, and ask them how they think that experience might be improved.  

 t’s really important that we reach as many children and young people as possible and so would like to ask for your help with this. 

Please share the survey with as many people as you can and ask them to support the service children and young people they know and/or work with.. 

The survey is open to anyone aged 8-17 who lives, or has lived in a family that includes a serving person. The QR code and attached flyer can be shared electronically, and printed off.

The results of the Survey will help the Youth Voice Steering Group focus their priorities, inform professionals, policy makers and help improve the experience of children and young people living in service families.

The survey expires Sat 31 Aug. Link to survey

Aurora New Dawn & Mankind: Domestic Abuse Recovery Programmes

As part of MOD's partnership with Aurora New Dawn, they are running a sexual violence recovery programme and an Athena domestic abuse programme for female Army and RN personnel and family members.  

Find out more at Aurora Abuse in the Armed Forces | Support Service | Aurora New Dawn (aurorand.org.uk)​  Course details, including how to register, are in the documents at these links:

• Sexual Violence Recovery Programme
• Athena Domestic Abuse Course​

​ManKind have received funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust to run their ACORN Recovery Course for male personnel, family members and veterans. Details, including how to register, are on the poster.  More information on Mankind is at: mankind.org.uk

Togetherall: What Support is Available to the Service Community?

You might be asking “What is @Togetherall?" - let us shed light on it. Imagine an anonymous, caring community that's accessible 24/7, no matter where you are, with an array of tools & materials to elevate your well-being 📈✨. Ready to embark on this journey? 

Togetherall is FREE for all UK military serving and veteran personnel and their families. Join today and discover more.

New Awards Provide Educational Support for Service children

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (the Trust) has announced 21 new awards in the latest round of the Service Pupil Support Programme!  

Worth £1.3 million, these projects are set to make a real difference to school-aged Service children across the UK - Improving their educational pathways and helping to address the challenges they can face. 

Supporting Service pupils across the UK 

Part of the MOD’s Armed Forces Families Fund, the Service Pupil Support Programme supports projects which focus on pupils from currently serving families and support them along their educational pathways. 

The projects supported in this funding round address gaps in educational attainment, support Service pupils with additional needs, and support small cohorts of Service pupils within educational settings. 

This year, the Trust has focused on supporting schools working in collaborative clusters of three or more to address the programme’s aims. 

Many funded projects centre on collaboration between schools to facilitate shared resources and good practice.  

ANDYSMANCLUB a men’s suicide prevention charity,

 

ANDYSMANCLUB a men’s suicide prevention charity, offering free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups across the United Kingdom and online. 

We want to end the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and help men through the power of conversation. #ITSOKAYTOTALK