AI 2018 Business Excellence Awards

Acquisition International - 2018 Business Excellence Awards 63 “One of the main points to take from this is that they hang up. We will chat and listen for as long as they want to. Whilst creating a strategy or plan to help them on their first steps to recovery. This is always followed up by a 48 hour ‘call back’. We are also in a position to pay for a private assessment (should one be needed) to determine a diagnosis, therefore speed up access to treatment and ultimately recovery. A GP referral can take up to 4 months. No one, has had to wait more than two weeks when referred by Sapper Support.” Fundamentally, Sapper Support provides vital services, especially within such an under-funded and under-resourced space, as Tim is eager to emphasise. “Overall, there are some major support charities within our sector, doing sterling work. The MOD, which comes under fire daily by veterans for its ‘lack of care’ helps hundreds of serving personnel with their mental health issues without publicising the fact and I feel should be publicly applauded for this. However, I feel that at Sapper Support we have plugged a gap in the support network, that before our creation was allowing ‘individuals’ to fall through unnoticed. “After all, we here at Sapper Support are the first link in a very long chain, that is able to catch individuals before they spiral down into the inevitable abyss that awaits them, so early intervention is key.” Ultimately, Sapper Support has achieved incredible success over the past four years, and moving forward it will grow even further as it seeks to provide even greater support, as Tim proudly concludes. “Currently, Sapper Support is growing on all fronts and we must therefore plan for the future. A robust infrastructure that meets all the demands of the sector, whilst still giving personable interaction and meaningful support to our demographics. “Therefore, our plan for 2019/20 is to create a national framework based around regional teams. This will give us a structure that plays to our strengths whilst also giving a workable span of control. This will help us to increase our topographical knowledge, as well as providing us with the ability to plan for face to face intervention/ support. It will help to ensure that our volunteers are supported and not overwhelmed and create a level of continuity through a partnership with local resources that we have not previously been able to achieve. The IT for this project needs to be sourced and will be of the highest priority, regardless of cost. Cost can be overcome and negotiated possibly with private financial support or government backing. These exciting developments offer us the chance to make even more of a difference, and we are extremely excited about this prospect.” Always there when needed