Veterans Lifeline Charity

My name is Nicholas Perry and I am the founder of Veterans’ Lifeline, fully registered U.K. Charity.

A little bit more about the man behind veterans lifeline.

Nick Perry, a former Army Warrant Officer and Liverpool Lad who returned home. The plight of the local Veterans (with no diagnosed medical issues so not on the radar of other military charities) led him to take action in line with his experience as a Personal Recovery Officer (dealing with Wounded Injured and Sick service personnel) and the knowledge of his 25 year military career as well as experiences gained from operating in hostile environments like Afghanistan, Iraq etc. Nick was also the House Sergeant Major of Tedworth House towards the end of his military career (H4H HQ and recovery centre in Wiltshire), so he understands how the charity’s operate and He has also worked with our hardest hit serving personnel, indeed he was personally in charge of the recovery pathway of the worse case of PTSD the British Army had ever seen.

For Nick it’s very simple, He hates to see people struggle in general but the truth is we live in a very hard world that can if you are not careful and probably when you least expect it, chew you up and spit you out (this world has no boundaries on who it can creep up on and spin their world upside down, you may have left service as a private or a Colonel in the SAS, everyone at times needs a little support some more than others), and trust us if this world turns on you and brings you to your knees then I guarantee you would want someone like Nick by your side. 

Nick absolutely hates on a very personal level to see a veteran brought to his or her knees because of lots of different reasons and the thought of a struggling veteran committing suicide when We know he or she really doesn’t need to is an absolute killer for us (this is not a romantic notion for us, this is real life) and believe it or not We always try our best not to get overly involved emotionally.

Veterans’ Lifeline takes a different approach, quite holistic. They don’t stand by the fast-flowing stream, fishing struggling veterans out then helping them (like many other charities). Instead, where possible, they move upstream to see why they are falling in and try to prevent it.

The HARD FACTS model is used to identify the underlying problems and we try not to get to focused on the symptoms of the underlying problem (we won’t just fix the symptom and then walk away, of course the symptom will be dealt with but concurrently we look to fix the cause): Health, Accommodation, Relocation, Drugs/Alcohol, Finances, Attitude, Children/Family, Training/Employment, Supporting Agencies. Each is tackled and if there’s an issue solutions are sought with the Veteran. Complex issues, broken down one by one to achieve an achievable and lasting solution for the struggling veteran.

It is very simple, Veterans’ Lifeline occasionally sends struggling veterans and their families away on holiday. it is often a lifeline for individuals and can at times maintain the family unit.  However, sending family’s away is costly…  So we set out to raise funds for the Veteran Owned Static Caravan and to equip it as necessary. Thanks to the donations from individuals and organisations we have been able to achieve this.

Veterans Lifeline help deserving Veterans and their families in various ways and the below can see how we have been able to successfully fund raise for a static caravan, mini-bus and are currently issuing food parcels to Veterans who come through the Charity. 

Now Veterans Lifeline owns its own static caravan, it will enable the charity to send away 20 plus veterans/families on holidays each year, this will be a huge capability that the charity will then have. But we are now looking to raise funds through donations to own our own mini bus that will allow us to help Veterans travel to events around the country and to travel to France with senior veterans who otherwise would find it difficult to travel to Remembrance Services. Please take a look at our work and see how we can help Veterans and if you can donate to our funding that would be much appreciated.