New lease of life for veteran
An East Kilbride veteran has been given a new lease of life thanks to a forces employment charity.
Mark Withers, 47, from Greenhills, served as an Army Guardsman and had been out of work for nine years due to caring for his mother who has vascular dementia.
But he, along with hundreds of Scottish veterans and their families are celebrating securing meaningful employment in civilian roles.
It is thanks to the support of RFEA –The Forces Employment Charity – which has extended its unique ExForces Programme, providing Regional Employment Advisors across Scotland who are on hand to offer comprehensive career advice and access to job opportunities.
The programme is open to service leavers, reservists and veterans, irrespective of circumstances, rank, length of service or reason for leaving, with a bespoke Families Programme also available to provide support to their partners and spouses.
Since introducing the team, who have bases in East and West Scotland, the programme has helped over 1000 veterans and their families with individually tailored employment advice and guidance, resulting in hundreds of new jobs being secured.
Dad-of-one Mark now works as a loss prevention officer and is looking forward to building a successful career.
He told the News :“I was lacking confidence and didn’t know where to start with getting back into the workplace. After reaching out to RFEA I was contacted by an advisor the very next day.
“She listened to my circumstances and was able to suggest a series of short, middle and long term goals. This made the process of understanding and figuring out the path back into employment stress free.
“My advisor was always at the end of a text or email and I was given support with my CV, finding local employers, interview preparation and given referrals to other organisations to support me with other issues I was facing. I now have a job as a loss prevention officer which has opportunities to progress into management. Getting my foot back in the door has been a massive stress off my shoulders especially financially and emotionally - the help I received from my RFEA advisor to secure my new job has been invaluable and I cannot thank her enough.”
There are around 214,000 working age veterans in Scotland, yet research shows that they are more likely to be unemployed, have lower levels of education and home ownership than other civilians, with some figures suggesting they are more than twice as likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population.
Whilst many veterans transition easily into civilian life, some struggle with challenges such as adapting to a new working culture, needing careers advice and job opportunities, as well as more serious obstacles including housing, debt, substance and alcohol misuse, through to health issues such as PTSD.
Jim Wilson, General Secretary of Veterans Scotland, said: “We welcome the important work carried out by RFEA – The Forces Employability Charity in support of those veterans who have difficulty finding long term, sustainable employment.
“Their collaborative work, with other Service charities and statutory organisations, ensures that those veterans can be supported across a range of difficulties that they may experience.”