Supporting Mental Wellbeing

At FirstLight Trust we are incredibly fortunate working at grass roots level as we do.  Our cafe hubs situated throughout the UK (and with another 2 on the horizon) are a focus of conversation, laughter, and yes, problem solving.  Our customers and clients meet face to face over a tea or home made scone; they discuss the weather, what sort of day they are having, and often meet at the cafe hub as part of their weekly social activity.

Such opportunities and an ability to share and communicate with those around you is always an under-estimated component of mental wellbeing.

There simply is nothing like being able to go somewhere, be made to feel welcome, and know that someone sees you, hears you and listens.  Often nothing needs to be said; it is as if by 'voicing' your concerns half the problems disappear.

And that truly is where the work we carry out starts - with a conversation, and frequently those conversations lead to discovering what the problem really is.  And then by helping with that, confidence, wellbeing is improved - frequently through activities which provide the distraction and the companionship to assist with creating the solution (back to those conversations again!)

Take our model club for instance: they veterans talked about the benefits of model club and attending the FirstLight trust hub. One veteran stated. 'It keeps me sane having a weekly routine and reason to leave to the house'.

Another veteran stated he never realized how isolated he had become and coming to the hub for activities have opened new doors allowing him to learn to socialize again and feel comfortable around people.

One veteran stated he has learnt new skills which in turn has given him confidence to try new things that they have never thought of doing before; having the courage to get support on their finances and weekly budgeting.

The support you give us is so important and the ripple effect of enabling us to 'do' this work should not be underestimated; on family and community.   The cost of mental ill health is huge; societal, monetary, emotional, and physical.  With your donations and support for what we are doing, you are assisting us in being part of the solution - particularly when you consider that our cafe hubs supported over 20,000 veteran visits last year alone (and an equivalent if not greater number of non-veterans).

The biggest killer of men under 50 in the UK is suicide, and nearly 3/4 of all suicides are men. This is quite simply horrific and unacceptable.  One suicide is one too many.

This project is about mental wellbeing - the other side of the dark suicidal coin.  FirstLight Trust prevented at least 6 male suicides this year; the societal 'cost of each suicide, according to generally agreed statistics, is around £1.5million.  The human cost on families, friends, and communities is incalcuable.

So why is this project so important?  Quite simply it saves lives.  Prevention is infinitely better than cure.  Listening, talking, hearing, believing in a person, giving them permission to fail and helping them solve problems is life changing work.  Combine that with activities, a safe place to go, a community that supports and cares and you have a vibrant alive organisation that cares, laughs, fails yet picks itself up, learns and changes lives.

Working with each individual we create the pathways that lead from hopelessness to a fulfilling life - whateve that may be - and it is often tortuous, challenging, occasionally despairing, yet ultimately lives are changed, and people and families are able to move forward.

Please help us carry on this work; your donations are life saving (literally) - those 6 suicides would have happened were we not there.  Your funding enabled us to be there.  Please help us to keep on giving back and saving lives.

Veteran Y has undergone an intensive period of highly specialist psychological trauma-therapy through Firstlight Trust and he has progressed well and worked hard in every session. However, there was still a gap in treatment in terms of him leaving the house and interacting with the outside world and building up his social skills and confidence levels again. Through Firstlight Trust, Y was offered a place at an Adventure Retreat for the weekend and because he trusted Firstlight Trust, he picked up the courage to travel 3 hours to take part in the activities. Y was well supported through the adventure activities and throughout the weekend it was observed that he started interacting with the group more and his confidence grew exponentially. On his return home, Y’s mood and improved social skills translated into him re-connecting with some of his old army friends. Y described the Adventure weekend as one of the best things he has done since he came out the army and that it felt a safe and friendly environment for him to start integrating into civilian life. Y has now gone on to start volunteering with a veterans charity and has reduced his medication further. He describes the Adventure Retreat as the catalyst for this happening as it made him see how it was possible to transition into civilian life.