Royal Caledonian Education TrustToday, RCET: Scotland’s Armed Forces Children’s Charity in partnership with The Travel Company Edinburgh launches a new respite service for struggling veteran families across Scotland.
The service will form part of RCET’s already established Children & Family Support Service which helps hundreds of veterans’ families a year who are in emotional and financial crisis.
The Respite Service will support two groups; Armed Forces young carers, and families where there is a prolonged or terminal illness of an immediate family member or there has been a bereavement. With the support of the charity and The Travel Company Edinburgh, families will be able to create a bespoke break based on their own needs for up to 7 days within the UK. The charity aims to support at least 20 families with these much-needed breaks by the end of 2020.
Trials of the service have been hugely successful with families saying “We can’t thank you enough for allowing us to create precious memories as a family for the last time.”
Colin Flinn, Chief Executive of the Royal Caledonian Education Trust said “Veteran families facing a long-term health condition and a potential bereavement in the family are under enormous pressure financially and emotionally. We are launching our new Respite Service to support these families and their young carers to enjoy time together as a family free of some of the worries that they’ve been facing. We hope that this support will be of great comfort to them enabling their children to access the support that they need to reach their full potential despite this difficult period in their lives.”
Ken McNab, Managing Director of The Travel Company Edinburgh said “We are delighted to be working with RCET on this new Respite Break Service and hope we can bring some true joy and happiness to the families who have already suffered enough.”
For more information on how to apply for a respite break please contact the Children & Family Support team at RCET on 0131 322 7350 or by emailing [email protected].