Graeme Elmore has been out and about in London!
Well after al the dramas of seeing the ENT guy on Monday in Bristol its been back to normal for the rest of the week. Incidentally, do you have any clues why an ENT Oncologist should be holding his clinics in Bristol Dental Hospital??
So back to work for "Combat Stress." There was a god piece about the charity on Wednesday night's BBC 6 o'clock news with George Thingy - the usual 6pm presenter in Afghanistan. It certainly is a good charity but is overwhelmed by the number of ex-service personnel who have been damaged by war service. Some of the older clients go right back to WW2 abd the Korean war, but now there are others in their 20's who have witnessed some dreadful things in Iraq and in Afghanistan - and God knows how many who were traumatised by the Falklands conflict and the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
I've had a introduction these past three weeks from the great guy who has been doing my job for the past 10 years. Clive Walch at one time had several hundred clients on his books - far too many of course for one man to handle. He has handed over to me 130 clients all living withn the M25 for whom I am now their Welfare Officer. It's still a daunting number and many of them suffer quite badly from PTSD and have all sorts of related problems. So as well as meeting some clients this week I have also called upon a number of other charities and agencies that seek to help veterans. Without exception these are people who are passionate about caring for our heroes and getting the best for them both from government and charitable sources. I have also visited a couple of hostels and homes for those who have been living on the streets or who have nowhere else to go - again staffed by dedicated people who have a care for those who have served their Queen and Country.
Many thanks for all those of you who have contacted me this week - its true to say that when you have worries or problems you soon know who your true friends are, and I've been getting really encouraging messages, texts and phone calls sometimes from people from whom I have not heard for years. Thank you all so very much, I can't tell you how grateful I am, and I hope you will continue to stay in touch as we go forward with this thing. I am being as positive as a positive thing at the moment, and being kept upbeat by so many people with upbeat things to say! My current plan of action is to treat this whole thing as an inconvenience and irritant and normal service goes on.
Talking of which...you know it's gone 6 o'clock and something very important in my life is missing.....but not for long ha ha!