Caring for ex-servicemen

AS PART of a series of Remembrance events Torbay MP Kevin Foster teamed up with comedian Jim Davidson to attend a Parliamentary session with Care After Combat, the charity working to help prisoner veterans to reintegrate into society after leaving prison.

The aim was to learn more about its vital mentoring services. The charity is only currently able to reach one in 10 prisoner veterans and increased funding is urgently needed to roll out its services UK-wide and support all eligible veterans currently serving sentences.

It is estimated there are 3,500 former servicemen jailed in England and Wales.

Co-founded by Jim Davidson OBE in 2015, Care After Combat mentors jailed veterans serving the final 18 months of their sentence to help them make a successful transition from prison to civilian life.

Over the past three years it has expanded its scope to provide services for more than 300 veterans in almost 30 prisons, helping to reduce first year reoffending rates amongst service users to 8%. This is compared to the 45% first year reoffending rate amongst the wider prisoner population.

Davidson said: “At a time when our prison service is struggling to cope, Care After Combat could play a greater role to reduce reoffending and help former veterans by restoring the sense of stability and purpose which they enjoyed whilst serving in the Armed Forces.”

Mr Foster added: “The Armed Forces Covenant is an agreement between our country and those who put their lives on the line to defend it, and we have a responsibility to look after the welfare of all our veterans, especially as they leave the Armed Forces and make the massive and often daunting challenge of transitioning to civilian life.”