My son is in the Army, so far he`s served 23 years as a soldier and during that time he`s seen many incidents where soldiers or ex soldiers need help. He himself needed help for PTSD when a mortar in Afghanistan missed him by feet and killed his best friend and he as well as other soldiers had to collect body parts from the scene in order to repatriate fallen colleagues. He also servied in Iraq and had to do similar distasteful acts when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a market square full of women and children. That`s just 2 of the incidents he`s faced in his long and active career. He`s done Bosnia, Kosovo, Denmark, Ireland, Afghanistan (twice ) Iraq (twice ), The Falklands ( in peace time ) and many many postings around the UK too, one of them as as Casualty Liason Officer with the unenviable task of visiting families to tell them their son, daughter, husband etc was dead or injured.
Poppy Day is a wonderful thing but all year around, there are other Service Charities which need help and donations. Combat Stress is one which helps soldiers and ex soldiers with mental health issues which is a big problem and suicide, addiction, depression are rife especially amongst ex soldiers. SAAFA helps soldiers or ex soldiers and their families with almost every issue under the sun, from housing crisis, debt, homelessness and so on. Many ex soldiers have failed marriages, addiction problems and unemployment and the Army and local Councils no longer guarantee them a place to live or help in retraining or finding a job, all due to cutbacks.
I buy directly from the BL because I know 100% of profit will go to them but I also support SAAFA and Combat Stress however I can. There are SAAFA representatives in most areas, they tend to be ex servicemen or women and they`re frequently looking for help providing household items to an ex serviceman who has been homeless and they`ve helped to rehouse him or employers who have any kind of work for such men. Combat Stress have their own website, facebook page and rely heavily on donations and provide a valuable service in all things mental health related. Our NHS is stretched to its limits, our Armed Forces have suffered massive cutbacks, local Councils no longer give priority housing and more and more servicemen and women are having to rely on help from Charities.
Sorry to go on but as you can tell it is something I feel very strongly about and when my son retires in 2 years time, after giving 25 years of his life to protecting and defending others, it will possibly be the good will of others which will help his transition back into civilian life.