Meet Matt and the team at Bravo 22

Bravo to the Legion’s Poppy Supporters!

You deserve a round of applause from Matt Wightman and everyone at Bravo 22. Thanks to your very generous support, The Royal British Legion is able to help fund this incredible recovery and wellbeing through the art project. Bravo 22 helps ex-Service people like Matt to gain new skills, rebuild their self-esteem and, day by day, learn how to adapt to civilian life.

The onboard doctor sent Matt for brain scans, which led to months of investigation. But it was a routine visit to his GP that changed everything for Matt:

“On the way out of the doctor's surgery my hand was on the handle and she said, ‘is there anything else’ and I turned around and had a breakdown.” Soon after, Matt was diagnosed with PTSD.

When Matt told his sister about his diagnosis, she simply said: “I didn't even think you'd go into the Army, I always thought you'd be on a stage or something.”

Matt’s sister got him thinking and, as luck would have it, an advert for a theatre group especially for ex-Service people popped up the next time he logged onto Facebook. But when Matt arrived at Bravo 22, he was nervous and not sure that he’d made the right decision. “I spent the whole time thinking ‘I definitely won’t be coming back here again.’” But with some gentle encouragement, Matt did come back.