The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Call for numbers of veteran suicides to be recorded
Campaigners say many lives could be saved in future if Government were to monitor how many former service personnel are taking their own lives
Supporters of military veterans in Peterborough have backed widespread calls for suicide rates of former service personnel to be recorded, claiming it could save many lives in the future.
An investigation last summer by JPIMedia, the publishers of the Peterborough Telegraph, prompted a national debate as it revealed that the Government does not monitor how many former service personnel take their own lives, despite fears that the number of cases is spiralling.
Now, the House of Commons Defence Committee is pushing for this “data gap” to be filled, amid a row between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) about how this can be done.
Currently the US, Australia and Canada all record the suicide rates of military veterans, and calls for that to be mirrored in the UK have been backed by Tony Francis, honorary branch secretary of the Royal British Legion in Peterborough, Elaine Danaher, founder of Supporters of Combat Stress, and Steven Pettican from Light Project Peterborough, which supports veterans through the Winter Night Shelter and Garden House project (see pages 12 and 13).
Asked if recording the suicides of veterans could help prevent other former service personnel from taking their lives, all three were emphatic in their responses.
“It would do,” declared Tony. “It needs to be done.
“Once they see how many veterans there are they will do something about it. The Government has to step up to help guys, women and their families.
“Nobody knows the level of it because it’s not been recorded. There needs to be statistics available. The only time we find out there has been a suicide is on a Facebook group.”
Supporters of Combat Stress brings agencies who support veterans together on the first Tuesday of every month in the Knights’ Chamber at the cathedral.
Elaine has seen the effects of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as one of her relatives has been diagnosed with it, with symptoms including anxiety, anger and isolation.
She said she has seen veterans as young as 25 coming to find help at the support events.
“The Royal British Legion regional case officer said Cambridgeshire has the most veterans wanting help in the whole of East Anglia,” Elaine continued. “We’re dealing with so many cases in Cambridgeshire it’s unreal. They have not got the manpower to do it.”
Veterans often find it hard to adjust to civilian life after leaving the armed forces, while many struggle to reveal their mental health prob-lems. Steven said: "People just want to know you're there for them. They come to Garden House and they are quite qui-et and don't necessarily want to open up. 'Where we have got wins, is when you listen to people. Steadily and slowly they engage and you see a differ-ence:' Elaine added: "In the military you're part of a big family. In civvy sweet you're on your own and don't know where to turn Tony said: "There are peo-ple out there who are brilliant and they could do so much more if they had funding." He suggested having a sin-gle building in Peterborough for all agencies to be repre-sented could make a huge difference. "That would reduce the level of suicides because then they would know they can get the help," added Tony. Armed Forces Day is be-ing held on June 29, and there will be many stalls in Cathedral Square for people to speak to different organisations.