Sunday’s Around Town was the second of our two part ‘Veterans Show; thank you for sacrifice’. Following a post on social media, by a local veteran, which raised a number of problems facing ex service personnel, we invited some of those who responded to the original post to come on the show to discuss the issues in more detail. Some preferred not to, but were happy to share their thoughts with us, which contributed to the preparation we were able to do for the show. The first of the two shows created a great deal of interest and, while some found the subject matter thought provoking and more than a little troubling, we received some fantastic feedback on the topics we covered.
In the second show we were able to share real life experiences of the challenges faced when trying to make the transition from the military back into civilian life without adequate support, guidance or training. The situation is often made worse when ex service men and women have to deal with the consequences of physical, mental and emotional injuries, suffered in the line of duty.
Mark Appleby, ex Royal Signals veteran, was back in the studio with us to help link the two shows, and joining Mark was Andy Camiss who is the CEO of the East Durham Veterans Group, along with Craig Bullmaa 2nd Parachute Battalion veteran who actively supports ex service personnel dealing with less than sympathetic government departments and agencies, and discussing real life experiences of making the transition back into civilian life. It was our intention to be joined in the second half of the show by John Stephenson of the Forces Transition Group, via a Zoom link, to get a better understanding of how help, support and guidance are being provided to our veterans in the region, unfortunately, technical problems meant that John will be joining us at a later date with an update on the services and support throughout Durham and the North East.
Phill & Andy
Around Town, Aycliffe Radio