As the country comes to terms with the implications of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes has reassured wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans that it's adapting its support and service delivery for those who need it.

In Wales and Hereford, the charity has a dedicated Community Recovery Team of one-to-one key workers, Veterans’ Clinical Liaison, Fellowship and Sports coordinators, who provide bespoke welfare and wellbeing support across the region through hubs and face to face consultations.

After the Prime Minister introduced heavier restrictions last week, Help for Heroes has sent a message to beneficiaries that staff are continuing to support new and existing service users, and their families.

Community Recovery Manager for Wales and Hereford, Shelley Elgin says,

Whilst we are not a crisis service, we are supporting people in crisis and we appreciate that this is a time of national and global crisis. As such we are committed to supporting those who need us through this unprecedented time.

She adds,

At Help for Heroes, we have been working to adapt our services and keep them running as much as possible. We continue to offer the following services through phone, email and digital platforms. This includes the provision of welfare support, grants, psychological wellbeing, veterans’ clinical liaison service, and fellowship through our Band of Brothers and Band of Sisters network.  Soon, we’ll be offering virtual sports, health and activity programmes as well.

For the time being the charity has postponed the region’s community-based hubs, which have regularly taken place in Carmarthen, Bridgend, Newport, Treforest, Shotton and Hereford, as well as pausing a range of activities scheduled to take place across Wales and Hereford over the coming weeks.

Ms Elgin says,

This will be kept under review, and we will adjust in response to Government and NHS advice, and provide regular updates.

Issues such as anxiety and social isolation can feel overwhelming at times like this. It’s important to us that we do all we can to help our service users. Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll be sharing some wellbeing tips and we are working on a few tools right now which we will be popping on our website and social channels.

In the meantime, the charity advises everyone to follow national guidance to protect the NHS and save lives. They recommend that anyone eligible for their support who would like to discuss their needs contacts the Community Recovery Team via [email protected]