2024-03-28T15:40:22+00:00
Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter and, if you're a new subscriber, thank you for joining us. The first month of the new year has been a busy one for the whole of Team TRP, so we've got a lot to fill you in on.

Before we do that though, we'd like to share this news (hot off the press today) that we're very excited about... !

We're incredibly proud to announce that we've been selected as one of the finalists in the Military Family Charity of the Year category at this year's Celebrating Forces Families Awards.

Congratulations to all of the other finalists across the categories, and we're very much looking forward to seeing you all at the Awards NIght on Friday 28th April!

PS: Tickets for the black tie event are on sale now, will we be seeing you there...?

WHERE WE'VE BEEN THIS MONTH

Every year, the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity awards over £4 million to front-line charities and organisations supporting serving and veteran sailors, marines and family members, and we are extremely proud to be one of those charities.

Having the support of the RNRMC isn't only financial, it's also holistic. The charity's recent ‘Making a Difference’ workshop is perfect evidence of this, with the event giving us the opportunity to collaborate and share ideas with over 40 other organisations and charities, all of whom share the same goal as us - to improve circumstances for all members of the Armed Forces community.

This is what working together looks like.

Thank you, Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity.
This month, we attended the annual Veterans Trauma Network conference, to learn about how statutory and voluntary organisations are collaborating in order to develop support for veterans with service-related physical healthcare needs. We had the pleasure of hearing from and meeting so many key individuals and, as ever, used every conversation as an opportunity to advocate for the families and carers who play such a crucial role in supporting those veterans.
We look forward to growing these connections, and talking in more detail about the role played by - and the consequent needs of - the family members and carers of the veterans supported by the VTN.

ADDICTION SUPPORT

We've been building relationships with three incredible charities, all of whom offer expert support services to members of the Armed Forces community who are affected by addiction, be that a loved one's or their own.

DrugFAM provides a lifeline of safe and caring support to families, friends and partners affected or bereaved by a loved one’s harmful use of drugs, alcohol or gambling.

Support services include a helpline (available 9am - 9pm, 7 days a week), 1 to 1 support from a dedicated family support worker with experience supporting family members within the Armed Forces, and weekly peer support groups.
Get Support from DrugFAM
We were recently joined by DrugFAM's Founder, Elizabeth Burton-Phillips MBE, and CEO, Paul Rompani, who offered practical advice around supporting a loved one through addiction, which we will be sharing with members in February.

We're incredibly grateful for your support, and would like to thank you both for taking the time to support our members.
With You for the Armed Forces Community offers free, confidential support to members of the Armed Forces community who are experiencing issues with drugs and alcohol, and will work with you on your own goals, whether that’s stopping alcohol or drug use or just cutting down. The charity also partners with other veterans' networks, to provide full wraparound support with a range of different issues, such as mental health and housing.
This dedicated support is also available to friends and family members who are affected by someone else’s drinking or drug use, and With You has at least one Armed Forces Lead located in each of our services across England. 
Get Support

Adfam is a national charity tackling the negative effects of drugs and alcohol on family members and friends, and empowering them to get the help they need. 

If you're affected by the substance use of a family member or friend, you can speak to others with similar experiences via Adfam's anonymous online forum

Get Support

If you're not ready to talk to other people just yet, you might prefer Adfam's series of YouTube videos, which offer information and guidance on a range of different topics, including setting boundaries, positive communication and coping with conflict.

SHAPING OUR SUPPORT SERVICES

As a charity, and as a team, we're constantly striving to ensure that we meet the needs of our service-users. For this reason, we regularly ask our members for honest feedback - both positive and negative - which we use to help us shape the services that we provide.
Next month, we'll be following on from our recent email survey, by hosting a series of 'have your say' meetings.

Our Director, Rodger Cartwright, is very much looking forward to meeting with members, and finding out more about how they think we should be developing our peer support services over the next few years.
The meetings are being held across different dates, and at a variety of times, to keep them accessible to as many members as possible. If you're a member and have missed the email invites, please do give the team a shout - we would love to see you there!
We were fortunate to attend a recent training event with NHS Midlands Op COURAGE, in Birmingham:
Team TRP - Op COURAGE
The presentation on Moral Injury by Professors Neil Greenburg and Dominic Murphy gave us a real insight into the situations many of the veterans our members are supporting are living with.

It was also a fantastic opportunity to meet face to face many of NHS teams and partner organisations across East and West Midlands that we are working with, and to hear first-hand how genuinely keen they are to have The Ripple Pond as a resource and referral partner for the families and carers they come into contact with. We look forward to building more on these connections, to create a wide-reaching support for even more families and carers.
CATCH UP AVAILABLE NOW
On Thursday 12th January, we were joined by Georgie Adams from Carers UK who shared some advice about taking care of ourselves whilst caring for a loved one, and demonstrated the amazing platform of resources available to Carers. 
CATCH UP AVAILABLE NOW
On Tuesday 24th January, we spent the evening talking all things anxiety, with psychotherapist, best-selling author and anxiety expert, Joshua Fletcher.

Thanks Joshua for bringing your expertise to The Ripple Pond, such a valuable insight for our members!
NEXT: Guided Meditation
We're so pleased to welcome back Clare, The Life Healer, who will be delivering monthly Guided Meditation sessions, exclusively for our members.

Each session will be recorded and shared on our platforms, to allow you to catch up at a time that works for you.
As you'll have seen from our previous members' emails, our next virtual members' meet up will be happening on Wednesday 15th February. Drop into the Zoom call at any time from 8pm- 9pm, for a catch up with the team and other members, we'd love to see you.

Our next daytime virtual meet up will be Tuesday 28th February at 1.30pm, and we'll send you joining instructions closer to the time - keep an eye on your inbox!
If you haven't used Zoom before, please don't let it put you off from joining us! Clicking the button below will download you a copy of our step-by-step guide to using the platform. Have a look through it and, if it all still seems like a bit too much, just give us a call - we're here to support you.
Download here
We wanted to say a huge thank you to all of our members, both new and existing.

It's amazing for us as a team to be able to witness the supportive messages that you share with each other, and to see the real benefits of peer support in action.

These are just some of the words that pop up time and time again in your chats, that show how incredible you are as a community:
If you're a member who isn't currently using our chat forums, but you'd like to find out more about them, please do get in contact with the team. We would love to hear from you, and you can reach us by email or by phone.

SOLDIERING ON AWARDS 2023

Nominations are OPEN for this year's Soldiering On Awards!

Who do you know that deserves recognition for doing extraordinary things for the Armed Forces community?

There are 12 categories up for grabs, each offering the perfect chance to shine a light on the people and organisations (including charities, of course!) who support us the most.

Nominations close on 02 April 2023, and you can find all of the details you need by clicking the button below.

Find out more
More about our funders
More about our funders
It’s down to the generosity of these funders that we’re able to continue helping the military families who need us most.

Thank you
for helping us to change lives.
The Ripple Pond
Registered Charity Number 1161224 | Scottish Charity Number SC046402
 
* TRP members: Please note that, due to the nature of our email provider, use of this option will prevent you from receiving all future email communications from The Ripple Pond. Should you wish to unsubscribe from the newsletter, please contact the team on 0333 900 1028, or by emailing help@theripplepond.org