Nine out of 10 in financial difficulty

money@mirror.co.uk

RESPONSIBILITY

Anne Pieckielon, Bacs’ director of product and strategy and responsible for the Current Account Switch Service, said: “We have a responsibility to help those who find it difficult to manage their money, especially people who may have missed out on basic financial education while putting their lives on the line as part of their day job.

“We want to make a difference to them – that’s why we’re really proud to be working with SSAFA and the Daily Mirror on this campaign.”

SSAFA mentors help with practical and emotional support, advising on career decisions, and offering independent and confidential advice. This includes help paying bills and accessing a GP or dentist, which a new service leaver may never have had to do before.

It costs £500 to train each mentor, so the Current Account Switch Service donation alone would pay for up to 50 new mentors.

Jonathan Sandall, director of fundraising at SSAFA, said: “The transition back into civvy street can be challenging, especially when it comes to managing personal finances.

“We see a significant number of SSAFA veterans experiencing financial difficulties, and believe that every effort should be made to ensure that veterans are given the skills and confidence needed to manage their money, which is why our mentoring service offers this valuable support to all service leavers. “However, we are very clear that more needs to be done to ensure that everyone has the best possible chance of making the transition at the end of their service as smooth as possible. This is a key priority as we respond to the changing needs of the modern forces’ community.” Private Walter Richardson was injured in Afghanistan following an ambush while on Operation Herrick.

Suffering a double break to his leg and nerve damage, he was medically discharged in 2016 after nine years’ service. Leaving the forces with little experience of managing a budget, he was forced to use his pension to cover the basics, such as council tax and rent – and ended up in arrears.

To make matters worse, Walter, 36, who lives with his wife and four children in Scotland, wasn’t able to afford items that most of us take for granted, such as a washing machine.

Thanks to a call to SSAFA, the charity was able to help pay a month’s rent and buy the family the necessities they desperately needed.

Using his experience in the forces, and the challenges he has faced since, Walter is now helping others as a support worker for vulnerable young people.

He explained: “I was caught in an ambush by the enemy in Afghanistan that knocked me down a hill and I landed awkwardly.

“I got back to my patrol base, and the doctor said it was just bumps and bruises.

“I finished the tour, then five months later my leg collapsed underneath me when I was marching down the Edinburgh mile to parade in front of the Queen.

“I had broken my leg in two places and that was the build-up to my medical discharge.

“I went for physiotherapy and was constantly told to ‘man up’. There’s a mentality that if it’s not visible, it’s not hurting. I stayed with my unit until the very end, but my leg collapsed again. I went back to hospital and was diagnosed with nerve damage.

“I was left at home while my regiment deployed to Kabul.

“I was supposed to do resettlement training six months before my discharge but I got lost in the system.

“My problems started pretty much straight after I was discharged. We couldn’t get social housing even though we had four kids, so had to rent privately. I got into financial difficulty.

“I thought I would leave the armed forces, have that on my CV, be vetted and go on from there, but it was the complete opposite.

“I put my references as HM Armed Forces, got frustrated because I wasn’t getting calls, removed it and replaced it with ‘References on request’ and got six or seven calls in one week.

“When people ask me what

I was so proud when I left the Army but times have changed