How we supported RAF veterans at the Hayling Island Group Breaks

Social isolation, relationship difficulties and psychological issues are affecting significant numbers of the RAF veteran community, including an estimated 100,000 elderly members suffering loneliness and bereavement.¹ In a bid to help prevent social isolation and improve the mental health of veterans, the RAF Benevolent Fund have set up Group Breaks across the country. We spoke to some of the veterans who attended the Hayling Island Group Breaks in June 2023.

According to research, 50% of armed service veterans say that exiting the Armed Forces caused them to feel lonely and/or isolated in the past, with bereavement being the greatest cause of loneliness amongst respondents.² 

With the need ever apparent, the RAF Benevolent Fund set up Group Breaks for RAF veterans and their partners, providing a safe and fun environment for RAF veterans to improve their mental and physical health and create and strengthen important relationships.

Declan Geraghty, Community Engagement Manager at the RAF Benevolent Fund, said: "The Group Breaks are there for RAF veterans to build friendships, have some fun and be around like-minded people."

"The Community Engagement Workers at the Fund work with those members of the RAF Family who are lonely and isolated for multiple reasons – many of them are bereaved or have mobility issues for example. It gives them an opportunity to get peer-to-peer support and also build new connections. We tend to bring people together from a similar geographical location so that when the breaks are over, they can stay in touch and build on their new relationships."  

Alice Judge, who attended the breaks, said: "When you're part of the Forces, it's like one big family. We do really look out for each other. So, meeting up, even if you haven’t met before, you feel like you’re not a stranger in the camp. 

"The RAF Benevolent Fund has been there for me when I have been at my lowest and they have picked up the pieces. Being stuck indoors day after day is soul destroying, but thanks to the support from the Fund and my Community Engagement Worker Lisa, life has been so much better for me."

RAF veteran Neil Green said: "It's far too easy to be insular and, when the RAF Benevolent Fund got involved with me, they really helped me to mix with others and to get on with my life again after going through a divorce. You can start a conversation with others at the breaks and suddenly there’s something where you all just click –  we’ve all had similar experiences; it doesn’t matter where we have been in the world."

Colin Childs, who also attended the break, said: "My Community Engagement Worker Lisa informed me of the breaks and I have had an absolutely wonderful time. It's having the company of other people and being able to discuss our problems with each other which is very beneficial."

Another beneficiary, James Willis, said: "The RAF Benevolent Fund really helps people, especially if they can’t get out and about. I’d like to say a big thank you to the Fund for supporting people like me who would normally struggle going away and for making it possible."

References
1.    RAF Benevolent Fund 2015 report
2.    Royal British Legion, Loneliness and Social Isolation in the Armed Forces Community: Executive Summary.