Suffolk Family Carers is excited to share news of a new project specifically supporting UK Armed Forces partners and spouses of who have a caring role. This includes reservists.
Caring Forces is the latest offer from the charities Serving Suffolk Families Team and complements existing offers of support to veterans, those that have served and their family carers.
Caring Forces is about improving the mental health and wellbeing of spouses and partners with a family caring role through 1:1 and peer group support and working across communities to raise awareness of the challenges they may face and how they might be overcome.
Sarah Potter, Mental Health & Wellbeing Service Manager said, “To secure funding for this project is such an achievement and we are hugely grateful to the MOD and Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. Receiving funding not only provides us with vital resources to deliver the project but also sends a message of acknowledgement of visibility to partners and spouses who are taking on the primary carer role.
“Whilst there is very little research and data out there, awareness is increasing and we know from our experience that there is a need. It is easy to assume that all families are fit and well within the service community, but we must not forget the needs of the parent of the child with special educational needs, who parents alone while the other might be deployed, balancing not only the pressures of home and work life, but being a family carer too, or the spouse who may have relocated but cares for elderly parents ‘back home’ whilst trying to juggle the aspects of service life, work and their own wellbeing needs”
Caring Forces is there to work with individuals in a confidential way, to help them look at what other services and support might be available to them. We welcome any spouse or partner with a caring role to contact us, if they are based in Suffolk, and we also would like to extend this invite to anyone relocating to Suffolk, do get in touch.
