The Military Veteran Football Club is a group bringing ex-servicemen and women together via 5 a side sessions in the North East and beyond. Daniel Wales met some of the founders and members to discover why it was established and what benefits it brings.
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00:00 The Military Veterans Football Club was established in 2022 in the North East.
00:06 I spoke first to Chairman David, who told me a bit about his story and how the club came to be.
00:12 When I left the forces, I found myself in a situation where I wasn't surrounded by anybody who I'd been with or lived with for years.
00:22 There's kind of a camaraderie that comes with being in the forces.
00:28 My role is, I guess I'm the face of the football club, I'm the chairman of the football club.
00:34 But how it came to be was I was really struggling with mental health.
00:42 My wife Laura is really supportive of me and always has been.
00:47 She knew that I was going through a rough time, I lost my dad.
00:52 She pushed me into doing something.
00:55 At the time I wasn't sure, I wasn't myself, I was struggling with anxiety quite a lot.
01:01 She just said, get yourself out there, meet some people in the veterans community and see if we can get a football session together.
01:09 It's not something we advertise as being for mental health, but everybody knows that it's massive for the mental health.
01:17 Like you say, the exercise does you good, being out, being around people who have got a similar mindset to you.
01:25 The band that we can have together is great and like I say, we don't judge each other.
01:30 Community coordinator Russ echoed David's thoughts.
01:34 It's a space for all the lads and lasses who attend the sessions, not just the North East but around the country,
01:40 to come and enjoy some fresh air, get out and about, improve your own mental health, especially after Covid.
01:46 We've got sessions all around the North East at the minute, we've got them in the North West as well.
01:52 We're also getting them down in the Plymouth area and they're up and coming all around the country.
01:58 It's amazing, as you can see from the lads and lasses when we were playing on the pitches tonight,
02:03 it's an easy going sort of vibe that the lads and lasses bring.
02:08 It's as competitive or as easy as you want to make it.
02:11 There's all standards, welcome and there always will be.
02:14 I'm very, very proud to be part of it.
02:17 Two members told me how they came to join the club and the benefits they've enjoyed.
02:22 I started going to Patrick to be a mental health advisor for PTSD for people that suffer with mental health problems and issues.
02:28 I came across his site, Military Fitness Football, on Facebook by chance.
02:33 I thought I'd give these guys a message so I dropped them a message and Dave, he invited me along to one of the sessions.
02:40 I fully enjoyed it and I started talking about mental health for some of the lads.
02:43 If you've got any interest in football whatsoever, even if you haven't, come along just for the crack, camaraderie and a bit of fitness.
02:49 The Military Veterans Football Club clearly provides a very important set up here in the North East and beyond,
02:56 creating a vital space for ex-servicemen and women to come together and enjoy football as well as each other's company.
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