Health for Heroes

Health for Heroes is an armed services veterans' health initiative, developed in partnership with a local veteran who needed lots of support when he left the army due to periods of poor mental health. He found that physical activity and being connected to others was a huge factor in his recovery and wanted his fellow veterans to experience the same benefit.

In order to improve access to services for local veterans and help them fully integrate back into civilian life, East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust are supporting Health for Heroes, by providing free gym & fitness memberships to local veterans with bespoke consultation and design of a personal fitness programme. This also includes a free plus 1, to enable any Health for Heroes member to bring someone with them to provide support and confidence to participate.

We also offer a monthly Health for Heroes breakfast club for our members and the wider local veteran's community, in our Barrhead Foundry Leisure Centre. Here they can come together for breakfast, chat, participate in some group exercise and other activities. Our most recent breakfast was attended by 15 veterans, where they connected with a range of local agencies who could offer further support. This included the local British Legion and Money Advice and Employability Teams.

We're working closely with East Renfrewshire Council's Veteran Support Advisor, to make sure those veterans who need it most are connected with us as quickly as possible.

Jane Duncan, Veterans Support Advisor, East Renfrewshire Council said: 

"We owe so much to those who serve to protect our peace and freedom, and signing up to The Armed Forces Covenant is our agreement to support and help our service personnel. This project is such a great example of collaborative working at the highest level, all personnel involved have been so supportive and really eager to ensure that veterans have the best experience possible in the community."

Norrie, army veteran & Health for Heroes member commented:

"I very much see the 'Health for Heroes' programme as East Renfrewshire recognising the sacrifice service personnel make on a 'day to day' basis, often in extreme and hostile environments. This recognition to 'those that have served and who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice' is a testament to East Renfrewshire who should be commended for their generosity and compassion. For the first time since I left the military 25 years ago I felt my service had been valued and recognised, thank you."

David, army veteran & Health for Heroes member commented:

"The Health for Heroes thing has been really good for my physical health losing 2stone 5lbs, combined with good diet and mental health is a boost to making me feel that I'm doing the right thing in life for my physical well-being since having a brain injury."

Since starting in September 2019, we have already welcomed 21 Health for Heroes members through our referral partnership with ERC Veterans' Support.

We're delighted to be the first Culture and Leisure Trust to support the Health for Heroes initiative and hope to see this type of support for veterans grow across the country.

If you are a veteran, or know a veteran who would benefit from the Health for Heroes programme, please get in touch. Contact our Active Health & Wellbeing Development Manager, Carolynne McKendry Carolynne.mckendry@ercultureandleisure.org for more information.

Read how Help for Heroes helped one of our veterans to improve their mental and physical health..