At Cause UK, we work for a number of Veterans causes, including Broughton House – a Care Home for Veterans in Salford, and Riverside ECHG, which provides accommodation and rehabilitation services to homeless Veterans.
We are also Directors of the Veterans Artisan Bakery CIC at Catterick, a Social Enterprise and therapeutic bakery.
It’s fantastic to help publicise some of these charities successes. One such is 29 year-old Sean Percival Scott. His story was on BBC Tyne Tees radio last week and in the Chronicle.
Ann Chadwick wrote about his plight last year in the Yorkshire Post to help publicise the work of the Veterans Artisan Bakery (right: Sean is pictured in the bakery, baking bread).
One minute Sean was in a training exercise with the Royal Marines, the next thing he remembered was being in a hospital bed, following a severe panic attack.
Sean started his career in the TA Signals, before joining the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers becoming an Army Commando. He served tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
After returning from Iraq, he started showing signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: erratic behaviour, starting fights in pubs.
“I thought I was dying. It felt every part of my body had gone into reverse, I couldn’t control the shaking.”
Sean was discharged on medical grounds but family breakdown led him to the streets, using alcohol to self-medicate.
One night, a
t his lowest, he called Riverside ECHG’s supported housing centre, The Beacon.
The Beacon gave him a room, directed him to a doctor to treat his alcoholism and to therapy, and sourced vocational retraining in drug-dog handling.
He said: “Civilians go to bed at night knowing soldiers are keeping them safe, it’s nice to give back and help keep us safe when we need it.”
Do read how this important charity really does change lives around, see the story HERE.