Leaving The Services? The Five Aspects Of Transition You Need To Prepare For

Leaving the Armed Forces impacts both the family and Service leaver. The sooner you can think about your life on civvy street (housing, finances, employment, education, physical health and mental wellbeing) the better, and preferably plan early before leaving the Armed Forces. 

Click here to find out what Veterans' Gateway can help.

The five aspects of transition you need to prepare for 

Housing 

As part of their commitments to the Armed Forces Covenant, Local Authorities will all have appointed ‘Armed Forces Champions’ who act as a point of contact for serving and ex-Service personnel and their families looking for information and advice on housing.

Find your local authority

The Joint Service Housing Advice Office (JSHAO) helps service leavers assess their civilian housing options and provide guides and materials covering all aspects of housing after leaving service. If you are thinking about buying, consider doing this well in advance of leaving.

Finances

The Forces Pension Society roadshows provide financial advice at events held at military bases. MoneyForce provides money advice to help you better manage their money. Citizens Advice is a great source of information on all things money no matter if you’re part of the Armed Forces community or not.

Employment

Lifeworks for Families, Recruit for Spouses and RFEA Families Programme are spousal employment services that provide advice and support to spouses who are looking to gain employment. The Families Federation will launch a new spousal employment platform called Forces Families Jobs in late 2019. 

Education

Contact your local authority for school places – engage with them early and they’ll explain the process to you. The Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS) can help while you are still serving and offer a range of help and advice, including for special educational needs. Service leavers have a range of courses and personal development options as part of the resettlement process. You should discuss your options with station education staff. 

Physical health and mental wellbeing

Anyone under the care of Defence Medical Services will need to find and register with a new doctor and dentist. The NHS can help you access services. Unit welfare staff can advise on access to mindfulness and mental health support services. The British Army provides an ‘emotional pathway’ guide exploring some of the ups and downs that can be experienced after leaving the Armed Forces. This is valid for all services. Veterans’ Gateway provides a range of information about mental wellbeing and physical health.

Keeping A Check On Your Mental Health

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There are a number of mental health related literature available at the PCMF (Medical Centre) reception area that you can pick up.

PCMF Contact : Civ 3224893 or 3224101 ext 3222 / 3226 , Mil Ext 3222 / 3226

PCMF Opening hours : 

Primary Care Medical Centre Facility

Sick parade for service personnel: Mon – Fri 0730

Doctors Clinics:  0830-1230 and 1330 – 1600 

Minor Surg:  Tue 1330 – 1600 

SPN Clinics: Mon – Fri 0830 – 1600 

Nurses Clinic: 0800 – 1630 

Drop-in baby clinic: Tue 0900 - 1100

Physiotherapy: Mon, Tue & Thu 0800 – 1700 

                         Wed 0800 – 1230 hrs 

                          Fri 0800 -1330 

Dispensary: 0800 – 1000, 1045 – 1230, 1400 – 1650

                           Closed Wed afternoon for staff training

Understanding The Barriers - Foreign & Commonwealth Families

CLICK HERE to access the full document

The Law On Leaving Your Child On Their Own

The law doesn’t say an age when you can leave a child on their own, but it’s an offence to leave a child alone if it places them at risk.

Parents can be prosecuted if they leave a child unsupervised ‘in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health’.

For more information please click HERE

Are You Moving Back To The UK Or Canada? - Do You Have Your Service Community Guide?

Method Publishing produce Service Community Guides to aid in your relocation to your next Service Area. Whether it be MOD Lyneham, Canada, Edinburgh, Shropshire Method Publishing have a huge array of Service Guides.

Each Guide contains a comprehensive list of Garrison, Welfare, Health, Accommodation, Education and Local Area information, published in co-operation with the relevant Garrison or Station Headquarters.

For the full list of Service Community Guide please click here