UNPACK YOUR TROUBLES

Support service for veterans, serving personnel and their families

• Free, anonymous online early intervention psychological support for veterans, serving personnel & their families
• 24/7 access to professional councillors
• Joint initiative which includes funding from Help for Heroes & Department of Health

The pioneering online wellbeing service Big White Wall, has come together with a leading military charity Help for Heroes, Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence, to help support the mental wellbeing of UK servicemen and women, veterans and their families, who can often put off talking about what's truly troubling them for fear of stigma.

Now, in a unique pilot resulting from Andrew Murrison's "Fighting Fit" report, they can have access to www.bigwhitewall.com giving them a chance to unpack their troubles in a safe, supported environment, whilst remaining totally anonymous.

Help for Heroes has provided a grant of £100,000 to help fund a one-year pilot scheme in conjunction with £250,000 from the Department of Health. Additional funding of up to £300,000 has also been committed by Help for Heroes after the first year.

Funding for the project means veterans, serving personnel and their families can access the 24/7 service for free. Amongst other services, users can talk anonymously to others who may have gone through similar experiences, with a team of counsellors always online to offer support. This combined with community and counselling support leads to 95% of members reporting improved wellbeing and 73% sharing an issue for the first time.

Common issues facing our serving personnel and veterans raised on Big White Wall include fear of deployment in war zones, difficult experiences and memories of war, post-traumatic stress disorder, concerns for their families whilst serving overseas, injury and disability, drug and alcohol use.

To join, serving men and women, veterans and their families simply log on to www.bigwhitewall.com and click on the relevant section to them. Support Big White Wall on Facebook now www.facebook.com/bigwhitewall