Bringing support for ex-service community to life

The summer 2023 issue of Unforgotten Forces magazine is out now, and it’s choc-full of information and inspiration for older people who have served in HM Armed Forces, and their families. 

This issue, we spotlight holidays.  For ex-service personnel, there are discounts to be had, exclusive London clubs to enjoy, and an introduction to organisations that fund holidays for veterans with specific needs or circumstances.  We also share holiday information and tips for people with disabilities and health conditions.

Summer extends our opportunities to be active outdoors, and we’ve got stories of veterans doing just that.  We meet a group walking Fife’s historic pilgrim route, who tell us what combining walking, camaraderie and nature does for them.  The walk is under the auspices of Veterans Chaplaincy Scotland, an organisation that offers veterans, of all faiths and none, pastoral care such as they had access to while serving. 

We share a new Sight Scotland Veterans initiative to support ex-service personnel with sight-loss to enjoy sports and physical activities, wherever they are in Scotland.   Their members are shooting, golfing, bowling, and more. We also introduce the On Course Foundation, which supports veterans who have been medically discharged, or who’ve had a life-changing injury since service, through golf.

We’ve got a feature on eating well, where you can read how veterans at Dundee Therapy Garden and with the Defence Gardens Scheme are enjoying home-grown produce from wonderful walled gardens they tend together.  The Sight Scotland Veterans team also share how they are enabling veterans with sight-loss to cook up a storm. 

There’s news as well as lifestyle features. We’ve included an update about payments for bereaved military spouses and partners who forfeited pensions because they remarried, and shared a call for ex-service personnel to check if they have an unclaimed Armed Forces pension. 

You can read the magazine, and join our postal mailing list for free, at the Unforgotten Forces website.  There are also lots of back issues to enjoy in the Unforgotten Forces online library.

If you are aged 60 plus and have served in HM Armed Forces, Unforgotten Forces offers camaraderie and extra support, should you need it.  To find out more visit www.unforgottenforces.scot.