Carers and caregivers are important members of our community. On Carers Week, and with this year’s theme to ‘Make caring visible, valued and supported,’ it’s a great time to recognise all the great work that they do, as well as what we can offer them at Veterans Outreach Support.
Veterans Outreach Support has resources for people who have served in the Armed Forces and/or Merchant Navy, but that’s not all. We’re taking this ‘National Carers Week’ as an opportunity to remind you that we support those who care for veterans as well.
They are even included in our VOS mission statement:
‘To meet the welfare, wellbeing and mental health needs of veterans’, including spouses, partners and carers.’
If you, or someone you know, is a carer for a veteran in the Portsmouth, Isle of Wight, Gosport, Fareham, or Solent area, here’s some information you might like to know:
- VOS wellbeing activities are open to carers. You are welcome to sign up for everything from bookbinding to yoga and day trips out and about.
- VOS clinical mental health services are open to carers. You can reach out for support at a Drop-in or contact us for signposting to various services that can address or improve your mental health.
- VOS welfare resources are available for carers. We can offer 1:1 advice and connect you with our delivery partners at drop-ins (or by passing you their information anytime).
- VOS social meet-ups are open to carers. We facilitate a range of weekly and monthly casual social groups for members of the VOS community, and they includes carers of those who have served! You can see where and when these meet-ups happen by clicking here (Portsmouth) or here (Isle of Wight).
- VOS social media groups and mailing lists are open to carers. If you are a carer registered with Veterans Outreach Support, you can become part of our very active Facebook groups to learn about upcoming events, ask questions, or just chat with fellow members of our local veteran support community. You can also receive weekly emails about events and opportunities from us at VOS.
We recently spoke with a carer in our community (in this video!) and she had this to say about joining Veterans Outreach Support:
“I have now a lot more active respite, which is time when I don’t have to focus 100% on Jim, I can focus on crafting activities, social activities, just chatting to people…so I can leave him safe to enjoy himself without having to worry…And you know who to put us in touch with, and that is a huge burden off someone my shoulders, as a carer. No matter how many signposts you get given from various different areas, to know that a service-related link is available makes things so much easier, so much more accessible.”
If you or someone you know is a carer who could benefit from our resources and information, do pass this article along! We are also happy to meet new registrations at drop-ins or receive messages at admin@vosuk.org or by phone on 02392 731 767.
VOS is immensely grateful to all of our funders, volunteers, and delivery partners, as without their support we would not be able to provide our services.
