A new, free Samaritans Veterans app has been launched on the back of joint research the leading suicide prevention charity carried out with the Royal British Legion, which found that veterans wanted to understand more about their emotional wellbeing and to hear from people with similar experiences. Those leaving the military and former Armed Forces personnel can access emotional health and wellbeing information, videos, exercises, podcasts, and create wellbeing to-do-lists in the app to help look after themselves and connect with the veteran community.
The new app is part of a programme at the charity that works with the Ministry of Defence and military charities to support serving personnel in the Armed Forces, veterans and their families, and is funded by a £3.5m LIBOR grant.
Navy veteran Liam (27), who used Samaritans for support when he was struggling with suicidal thoughts, believes the support could help veterans leaving the Armed Forces in the same way he is now.
“I left the navy in June, so I’m just getting to grips with the adjustment of a different pace of life.
“The support resources in the app are great and I like that you can do daily check ins to help manage your moods. Anything that can help you to get on with the everyday things is so useful when you have just left a familiar routine. I have used Samaritans service in the past and the volunteer I spoke to helped me out of a huge hole. To anyone feeling low, don’t be afraid to ask for help and confide. You don’t need to carry the weight of stress on your own, and your world will feel more manageable if you can take steps to look after your wellbeing and talk to others.”
The Samaritans Veterans App is available to download (Samaritans Veterans) on your phone from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android) or use the desktop version here.
