As prices soar, more and more veterans may find themselves in crisis. Help us answer their calls for help.
You could provide food vouchers to help people who cannot feed themselves. You could help turn the lights back on for a Service family who cannot afford to pay their energy bills. You could help provide temporary accommodation for a veteran forced to
sleep rough.
Surely everyone who served their country deserves this at least.
“RBL lifted the pressure and worries off my shoulders.” Terry’s story
Royal Corps of Signals veteran Terry Barnett was doing well in civilian life until his alcohol addiction began to spiral out of control. Having lost his job, Terry lost his family too and started falling heavily into debt. It took him a long time to find the courage to contact RBL.
Terry needed to help himself by acknowledging his addiction and working to achieve sobriety. Once he had taken that critical first step we were able to help with everything from a fridge to debt relief, advice, counselling and preventing threatened eviction.
As Terry says, “All the little things RBL has supported with have made a big difference. They lifted the pressures and worries I had off my shoulders and this allowed me to begin to address my addiction and seek the help I needed, without having to worry about keeping a roof over my head or seeking work.”
A life turned upside down by Covid-19: Jan’s story
Jan Collier, who served in the Army for years, had a good job in security when one day his life turned upside down. Jan caught Covid and nearly died. The virus left him with long term health problems. He is now unable to work and for the first time ever, Jan cannot support his family.
Jan reached out to RBL and one of our local case workers began working with him to help the family deal with their financial situation. We are now helping Jan and his family cope with rising energy costs and have arranged for Jan to receive a grant to cover his bills for the next three months.
The support turned things around for Jan’s family, as he says himself, “It wasn’t just me RBL supported, they supported my partner and son as well.”
