“The Fund makes you feel like you never have to deal with anything alone”

When RAF veteran Toby Harris was struggling with his mental health due to the challenging nature of his role, the RAF Benevolent Fund was there for him with counselling support.

Toby Harris, 27, joined the RAF in 2018 and began working for the RAF Police. In 2022, Toby moved into his role as a Police Intelligence Analyst at RAF Brize Norton, helping with the policing of Brize and aviation security.

Toby was at a crossroads, unsure of where he wanted his RAF career to go. “I began to feel an intense loneliness on camp and, even though I was around people, I felt very alone.

“We had a spell on camp where there were multiple suicides. I would be first responder to the scene in my role, so I had to deal with that and then go back to my room for my off days. It would just sit with me for four days. Initially I thought I was dealing with it quite well but then realised I wasn’t when I slowed down into a desk job.”

In the summer of 2022, Toby was given an end date to leave the Air Force and began receiving support from the Fund due to his mental health struggles. Toby describes how important it was to “be in the best place mentally” when he left.

He said: “I had known about the RAF Benevolent Fund for a while, and when I could feel myself starting to struggle, I looked on the website and found out I was entitled to counselling as a serving member of the RAF. In just one or two days I had a response from the Fund to begin the process.

“I was sceptical at first because I didn’t know much about counselling. I wasn’t sure what was affecting me - whether it was home life or military things. Counselling was my attempt to find out what was going on with me.”

Toby received six sessions from the Fund’s Listening and Counselling Service. “Counselling became my release. It was great to be able to offload to someone impartial and get advice on how to handle things. I felt so much better and so much clearer afterwards. I think it gave me the peace of mind that you’re not by yourself when going through tough times.”

Since leaving the RAF, Toby is now working in a new job which specialises in suicide prevention. He said: “I feel like it’s come full circle, because of my own skills and experience I can now try and help others. I now live with my fiancé, Eden, and my dog, Jango, with a very different, slower pace of life.”

Inspired to give back to the Fund, Toby decided to run the Macclesfield Half Marathon in October 2024. “I really wanted to set myself a fitness goal and do it for a good cause. I knew for certain I wanted the RAF Benevolent Fund to be my chosen charity. It was important to me to give back to those who helped me.

“I don’t think I realised how supported I’d be during my fundraising journey. I loved speaking to the team at the Fund and receiving the running vest – I felt like I had a team behind me which gave me the motivation to keep going.”

Toby concluded: “The Fund makes you feel like you never have to deal with anything alone, after serving for your country. It was comforting to know you are being recognised during and after your service.”