The Hull FC Community Foundation continues to have a positive impact on the local veterans community, says Hull FC Armed Forces and Community Pathways Officer, Steve Sampher.
The Veterans programme is made up of a number of strands, and it is run by Steve and Veteran’s Officer, Sarah Robinson.
The Community Foundation currently runs a number of individual sessions for local veterans, including Cookhouse on a Monday morning, and Bowls on a Wednesday afternoon.
Through these sessions, the Community Foundation have engaged with over 300 military veterans to improve all forms of health for those within the armed forces community.
Activities like Cookhouse and Bowls helps veterans connect with one another, whilst helping stave off feelings of loneliness and improving each individual’s overall health and wellness.
Hullfcfoundation.co.uk caught up with the Armed Forces and Community Pathways Officer, Steve Sampher, to find out how much impact the programmes are having on the region’s significant veterans community.
“Both sessions have proved to be really successful – we have achieved that by forming some really strong projects and running them in a safe and relaxing environment,” he said.
“Our Veterans Cookhouse session has been running for quite some time now. It’s a popular session with veterans and members of their families.
“We are reducing isolation getting our participants to give one another peer-to-peer support.
“Cookhouse also gives veteran volunteers the opportunity to prepare and cook a meal for the appreciative group.
“We have also recently introduced our Bowls activity session, which has brought instant success with our veterans and members of the wider community.
“Bringing both parties together and prompting physical and mental wellbeing has given us some great results, like seeing people having lots of fun and building strong friendships within the group.”
Also part of the programme of activities for veterans, Hull FC’s Community Foundation recently introduced the NAAFI Game Day Break. The premise of the programme is for veterans to head on down to the MKM Stadium Community Hub before heading across to the stadium to watch the live Rugby League action.
Plus, it was recently announced that the Community Foundation will be working in collaboration with the Veterans’ Foundation and the Rugby Football League to deliver a new project called ‘Lead The Game’.
The project aims to develop local veterans into Rugby League match officials – you can read all about it here.
“Having seen how well received our Cookhouse and Bowls sessions have been, I’m really excited for this new project,” Sampher said.
“We’re really privileged to be one of just three foundations to have been approached by the RFL and the Veterans’ Foundation to run this programme.
“Again, it’s another really helpful tool for boosting physical and mental wellbeing amongst our veterans.”
