Meet The Team

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE PEER MENTOR

Hello, I'm Sher and until recently I was a Veteran Liaison Officer in Northamptonshire providing assistance to Veterans in my care. Having worked with the Army in both Germany and Cyprus, as well as being an Army wife, has put me in good stead in understanding how military mentality works so that I recognise the issues that sometime befall Vets when they enter ‘Civvy Street'. In my new role, within the Veteran Community Network, I will continually strive to provide specialist support and champion our Veterans who have served their country.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE PEER MENTOR

  I have had a successful professional careers in the military, security, and custodial industries. I have excelled to senior management level in all my previous job roles. As a young person growing up of ethnic minority and from a working-class background, I have proven throughout my life, that with dedication, motivation, and hard work, that you can achieve whatever goals and objectives you set yourself. I am excited to finally be part of VCN family because I firmly believes I can be an excellent role model for my fellow veterans and support them to achieve their goals.

BEDFORDSHIRE PEER MENTOR

  I served with the 1st Battalion Royal Green Jackets for just under 5 years. I was posted to Northern Ireland (1999 - 2001) during the troubles.  

After leaving the army, I went into the building trade and then started my own gardening business. 

I went through some really difficult times and was finally diagnosed with service-related complex PTSD in 2020. 

VCN helped me get to Tom Harrison House Residential Rehab which Is the specialist Veteran Rehab in Liverpool.  

My life is completely different now and I help veterans as a peer mentor for VCN the way VCN helped me.  

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES CO-ORDINATOR

My grandfather served in the Royal Navy, and my father was a member of the RAF and served in Ascension Island during the Falklands War. I have had first-hand experience of military family life including living in quarters, changing school each time my father was posted, as well as knowing what it is like to have a parent go to war. I worked for the MOD for 5 years at an Army Reserve centre where I attended drill nights and was actively involved in recruiting, processing applications, booking medicals and selection weekends, during which time I gained valuable knowledge about the military family. Working alongside regular and reserve soldiers, I gained an excellent understanding of the transition into, and out of military life. I also worked as Communications Assistant for the EMH group, one of the largest providers of affordable homes and care & support services in the East Midlands, where I worked closely with a Special Interest Group made up of residents, which met monthly to look at how EMH communicated with its residents, with the aim of ensuring they get the information they needed, in a way that was relevant to them, whether that was through the website, annual report to residents, or the quarterly residents magazine. Whilst working for EMH, I attended training on Equality and Diversity, and Disability Awareness, in order to remove barriers and offer appropriate support to co-workers as well as residents. I am a Group Leader with the MKU3A, a charity whose aims are to advance the education and personal development of older people retired from full time work. Run by voluntary efforts of members, who offer opportunities to share learning experiences in a wide range of interest groups, I set up and run the Food4thought group and have recently taken over as Group Leader of the Music Appreciation group. I have ensured these groups have continued throughout the Covid-19 lockdown by moving activities online and making sure the more vulnerable and isolated members of groups have remained engaged. 

GENERAL MANAGER

I am the General Manager support for VCN, working on all the business administration elements to support VCN in the background. I have approximately 10 years experience in a variety of administration roles, a BTEC National Diploma in Business Studies and is currently undertaking AAT examinations in Bookkeeping this year in order to provide additional support to VCN in the near future. I have personal experience living with and supporting a Veteran within close family and therefore have an understanding and appreciation for the support and service that VCN offers to Veterans. For queries and further information about VCN, please do not hesitate to contact myself via email: admin@vcn.org.uk