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Veterans' Growth podcast


Dec 8, 2021

Nick talks to Bex and Sam from the Veterans High Intensity Service part of Op courage to find out what help there is available to veterans of the Armed Forces.

Rebecca Hankins is the Veterans Mental Health Lead for the Sussex High Intensity Service, she is a Mental Health Nurse and has worked with in a variety of settings including lengthy periods in the Criminal Justice System as well as seven years with a Veterans charity. Rebecca is the daughter of a Veteran and has current serving family members so the military is in her blood! Rebecca is passionate about Veterans and supporting them to get the best possible outcomes.

Sam is an Armed Forces Veteran having served 24 years in the Royal Navy having joined up in 1976. For the past 4 years prior to joining Walking with The Wound I worked for another Veteran’s charity, supporting Veterans in the Criminal Justice System. This involved offering them Peer Mentoring Support for up to 12 months prior and 12 months post release, working with the individual to produce a realistic Action Plan to ensure they could support themselves and more importantly not re-offend. This meant working with the Probation Service, NHS, Local Authorities and other 3rd Sector providers to meet the individual’s needs such as ensuring they had Proof of Service, recognised identification/ bank account, accommodation and employment.

I consider myself lucky, my transition into Civvy Street was relatively straight forward and having the support of family and friends was very beneficial for when things did not quite go to plan. However, for some Veteran’s that transition is not so straight forward as the past 4 years has shown me. Being involved in working with Veterans who lives are chaotic has proved me with a good foundation of skills and knowledge to take forward into my role as Veterans Liaison and Support Officer.