South Yorkshire mental health charity offering help to military families

A Sheffield mental health charity is reaching out to families of serving or former military personnel to offer support.
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Keeping Families in Mind is expanding its work through the network of Mind organisations in South Yorkshire.

Project co-ordinator for Sheffield Mind, Samantha Mulholland, said Mind can offer a range of counselling and support group sessions that are currently taking place online.

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Keeping Families in Mind will support families of anyone currently serving or families of military veterans.

Services available through Keep Families in MindServices available through Keep Families in Mind
Services available through Keep Families in Mind

“There is a theme within families that they need to be doing everything they can to be looking after everybody else, especially if someone is struggling,” said Samantha.

"They are important and need to look after themselves to support other people.

"People have veteran family members with post-traumatic stress disorder.

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"We say, ‘what about you? Even supporting that person and what they are going through has an impact on you’.”

Samantha said that issues around self-care, self-esteem and relationship difficulties are made worse by families staying cooped up together at the moment.

Lots of ways that people usually cope, such as going out to see friends, are difficult or impossible right now.

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"We want to be able to support them through counselling and therapeutic support. We want to decrease isolation,” said Samantha.

“They say ‘civilians don’t understand what we are going through or have been through’. What we want to do with support groups is gather families together for shared experience.”

While doing group activities such as arts and crafts, creative writing or movement and mood sessions –learning to cope with stress through breathing techniques - families can have a laugh and a chat together, said Samantha.

Keeping Families in Mind has been running for more than two years and has now won funding to expand its work, said Samantha, who wants more people to know that help is at hand.

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She said that there are more military families in the area than you may think as they are less likely these days to stay put than have to move between postings and veterans from the area mainly come back here to join civilian life.

Website: https://www.sheffieldmind.co.uk/keeping-families-in-mind . The service can also be accessed by emailing [email protected], calling 0114 258 4489 or following Keeping Families in Mind on social media.

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