LETTER: Volunteer and support our troops

SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, is the oldest national military charity in the UK.

We have been providing vital support for our troops, veterans and their families for more than 130 years. SSAFA has a network of volunteers who support some 55,000 people from the armed forces community each year.

Currently SSAFA is in real need of more volunteers in Nottinghamshire. We are looking for volunteers to go out into the local community and provide a vital first line of support to those in need.

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Locally SSAFA has seen an increase in requests for help. This is due to a number of reasons including the fact that currently almost 50 per cent of the ex-service community in the UK are aged 75-plus. There has also been an increase in younger veterans and their families coming forward for help. In 2005, 25 per cent of the beneficiaries SSAFA supported across the UK were under 60 years of age, ten years later as the knock on effect of recent conflicts continues to manifest, this figure has risen to more than 40 per cent.

We would like to hear from any of your readers who are interested in joining SSAFA’s volunteer ranks, particularly those empathic locals who have time to give something back to those who have already given so much.

We urge anyone who is interested in joining the local SSAFA team to visit www.ssafa.org.uk/newrecruits for more information or to apply.

Sue Pillar

SSAFA director of volunteer operations