In October Give Us Time sent five families to the amazing Azure Resort in Malta in collaboration with the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Center at Headley Court. We are all incredibly grateful to the Azure Resort for this generous donation as one of our family members said “we just want to thank you all again, it is just amazing that there are people out there helping others”.
The feedback from the families has been wonderful: they all had a great break relaxing and reconnecting as well as exploring the island. Headley Court has also sent us feedback reporting the changes and benefits of the break from the clinical perspective: the benefits from their viewpoint include giving the service personnel the opportunity to use the tools that they have learnt at Headley Court to manage their symptoms in a new environment, try different strategies, manage the reactions of strangers, re-establish their roles as husbands and fathers and reconnect with their wives and children.
Many children of military personnel live in fear of their mother or father being injured and even being killed. Quality time away with their loved one enables the children to be reassured that their parent is alright – even if they have been injured, have physical or mental health issues as a consequence of their service, their dad is still their dad and their mum is still their mum and they are not going anywhere.
These breaks allow families time away from the normal stresses of everyday life: for those battling with health problems these stresses are exacerbated and have an impact upon the whole family. The opportunity to have quality time together is invaluable and all of the families reported an improvement in family bonds and Headley Court also noted this and the benefits on the person’s mental health as well.
Once again Give Us Time would like to thank all of those involved in making these holidays possible – the staff at the resort who made sure their stays were splendid, to the generous donation from Azure Resort and those supporters who donated the flights. The memories made will last a lifetime and we are confident the benefits will as well.
Quotes from the families:
“I would just like to say a huge thank you for the generosity given by all those who have donated and supported this charity and allowed me and my family the chance to go away for some much-needed rest together. Time together is very precious and I am so grateful to everyone for this opportunity. Please continue to support our incredibly heroic and marvellous armed forces and families who dedicate so much without question or hesitation.”
Matthew
“I would like to thank you and your team from the bottom of heart for the holiday. It was amazing and has made me so happy. Since my injury I have not had quality time with my children. We had a fabulous week together and it has strengthened the bond between us again.”
Ian
If you would like to make a donation or learn more about how you can help Service Families please visit our website: www.giveustime.org.uk
