Portsmouth bids for a huge £670k grant to save veterans with PTSD

Viv Johnston, mother of special forces veteran Danny Johnston, has said she hopes Portsmouth's bid for the cash would help save the lives of soldiers like her sons. Photo: Tom Cotterill

The Solent Armed Forces Covenant Partnership Board has submitted a major bid for £670,000 to pay for the new initiative.

If approved, the money would be spent over two years on helping to drastically improve how veterans with serious mental health problems are identified and supported.

The cash would be used across the Portsmouth area to deliver a programme of mental health support, including drop-in projects and outreach groups.

Danny Johnston, 35, who took his own life after struggling to beat PTSD

Proposals also include creating a network of volunteers and front line staff trained to recognise and respond to mental health issues early.

And it’s hoped the windfall would fund an intensive support service working with up to 100 veterans’ families a year that affected by their loved one’s mental health woes.

The news has been welcomed by civic leaders and armed forces campaigners across the area.

Royal Navy veteran Ian Millen, head of Veterans Outreach Support based in Queen Street, Portsea, said: ‘This could help more people who would have otherwise slipped through the net.

‘Unless they go to their GP or hospital or come into VOS it may well be that nobody knows about them.’

Viv Johnston is the mum of special forces hero Danny Johnston – who took his life in May after battling post-traumatic stress disorder for years.

She welcomed news of the bid and hoped it was successful, saying it could help save the lives of people like her son.

‘Portsmouth is absolutely leading the way on veterans’ issues and let’s hope everyone else follows suit,’ said Mrs Johnston, of Bognor. ‘People are now starting to sit up and take notice of how large this problem is and how tragic it has become.

‘So I think this bid in Portsmouth is a fantastic idea. Anything that can help veterans like Danny is a good thing.’

The proposed programme of support for veterans and their families will be delivered in partnership by councils in Portsmouth, Southampton, Gosport and the Isle of Wight, the Royal British Legion, VOS, Age UK and the NHS.

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth City Council, hoped the bid would be successful and said it could develop key ‘support mechanisms’ that authorities know ‘veterans across the region needed’.

Campaigners will find out later this year if their funding bid has been green-lit.