Mental health charity Mind helps Armed Forces families

The Keeping Families in Mind event on Thursday, June 24 is focusing on people who have family members serving in any branch of the armed forces, including reservists.

The team has been providing a support and counselling service to local families across South Yorkshire, and in addition to one-to-one support, delivers group activities and training to help and unite the armed forces community.

The project is funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and Mind says it has worked closely with its partners to make sure the service is ‘engaging and relevant’ to the people at which it is aimed.

Samantha Mullholland of Sheffield’s branch of Mind said the organisation was offering support for members in or outside the immediate family unit who could be affected by duties carried out by serving family members.

“We recognised that need three years ago and it took a bit of time to get those families and that is one of the reasons we wanted to do this conference,” she explained.

“We’ve included members of the reservists as well, they may be home more often because they do their duties on say a Tuesday or a weekend. That reservist has a lot less time for family, and it still comes with potential safety worries.”

Samantha said a lot of the Armed Forces supported with the response to Covid which took them away from their families.

The conference will be taking place on Zoom and will include guest speakers.

For further information, and to book a place visit www.sheffieldmind.co.uk/News/understanding-the-military-family