More Money in Your Pocket is a dedicated website which signposts you to financial support all in one place. It offers advice that can help you to make changes that may lead to more money coming in and less money going out.

Alongside general advice and support across a range of areas, including housing, food, utility bills, budgeting, employment etc, there is a dedicated armed forces community section within both the budgeting and wellbeing support  areas, where you can find out about finance and debt, and wellbeing support, aimed specifically at the armed forces community.

This is another page dedicated to supporting Barnsley’s armed forces community, offering links and support in areas including:

• Community and Relationships, including bereavement, local support groups and support for armed forces children.
• Employment, Education and Skills
• Finance and Debt
• Health and Wellbeing
• Making a home in civilian society, including finding a home, jobs and training, and registering with local services such as schools, GP’s and dentists.
• Veterans and the Law

Please visit the above pages to access specific financial support and more general support aimed at the armed forces community.

Stressful situations, such as those brought about by financial worries, or any other worries for that matter, can lead to excessive alcohol consumption and/or drug misuse/dependency.

If you're finding yourself drinking more than the recommended limits or struggling with saying no to alcohol and drugs, Barnsley Recovery Steps can help you to recover and be free from drug addiction and alcohol dependency.

Although you may not actually think your alcohol use is problematic, the NHS advises you may need help if:

• you often feel the need to have a drink
• you get into trouble because of your drinking
• other people warn you about how much you're drinking
• you think your drinking is causing you problems
• you feel you should cut down on your drinking
• other people have been criticising your drinking
• you feel guilty or bad about your drinking
• you need a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover
• you regularly drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week (a unit is about half a pint of lower to normal-strength lager/beer/cider (ABV 3.6%), a single small shot measure (25ml) of spirits (25ml, ABV 40%) with a small glass (125ml, ABV 12%) of wine containing about 1.5 units of alcohol.
• you are sometimes unable to remember what happened the night before because of your drinking
• you fail to do what is expected of you as a result of your drinking (for example, missing an appointment or work because you are drunk or hungover)

Getting support you may not even realise you needed can help to make other worries, such as those related to the current financial situation more manageable.

Financial worries can also impact our mental health. If you think your mental health is suffering for any reason, the ‘Umbrella’ service may be able to offer support.

If, after an initial assessment, the service feels your needs would be best addressed via a different service, they will help to refer you onto the appropriate place.

If you find yourself experiencing any of the following, or just feel your mental health is declining contact Umbrella for support:

• Changes in behaviour such as becoming more irritable or emotional
• Worrying about things you may not have previously worried about or worrying about multiple things
• Feeling like things are getting on top of you with unhelpful thoughts creeping in
• Changes in sleeping patterns – sleeping more or less
• Changes in eating habits – eating more for comfort or eating less
• A drop in motivation to do things which you previously enjoyed
• Feeling hopeless or fearful of unfamiliar people or in unfamiliar situations
• Feeling less pleasure from things, and life in general
• Find your thoughts and movements slowing down
• Having thoughts of self-harm or suicide
• Having more bad mental health days than good – mental health can fluctuate but if you are having more bad days than good this may indicate a deterioration in your mental health

You can contact Umbrella by phone on 01226 704090 or by email: referrals.eipssbarnsley@nhs.net. If you are needing urgent help for mental health, please follow NHS guidance.

Circumstances may sometimes lead to people experiencing several issues at the same time, which makes tackling everyday situations even harder. It may sometimes even feel impossible to get out of a cycle of issues that make each one worse.

There are two (age specific) services available for people experiencing homelessness/risk of homelessness or need help keeping hold of a tenancy and are experiencing one or more of the below issues at the same time:

• Substance misuse
• Domestic abuse
• Mental/physical health issues
• Offending behaviours

If you find yourself homeless/at risk of homelessness or needing help keeping hold of a tenancy and are experiencing one or more of the above issues at the same time our Multiple Needs Services may be able to offer support.

One service supports those aged 16-24 years, and one supports those 25 years and over. The accommodation elements of both services can be accessed through our Housing Options Service, with the age specific service provider then offering accommodation-based support to address the accompanying issues.

The Housing Options Service can be contacted on (01226) 773870 or freephone 0808 196 3530 or via our website.

Unveiling ceremony

There is another ceremony being planned to unveil additional stones that have been purchased to remember those who have and are currently serving. The next ceremony is planned for 2023 and the date will be communicated once confirmed.

The walkway is located on Westgate, by the college gardens and is a dedicated area to commemorate the borough's armed forces serving, fallen and ex-services personnel.

Purchasing a stone

If you would like to purchase a stone this can be done at any time of the year.

Stones can be purchased for anyone that has served in any of HM Armed Forces with a strong connection with the borough preferred. Stones can also be purchased to represent a unit with a clear link to Barnsley.

Each stone costs £300 which is inclusive of:

• VAT
• Engraving
• Positioning on the walkway

There aims to be one unveiling ceremony each year where any new purchased stones will be unveiled. If you are interested in purchasing a stone for an individual, or on behalf of a unit, visit the HM Armed Forces Walkway page.

The initial Census 2021 data set relating to the local veteran population has been released and shows that Barnsley has the second highest proportion of Veterans within the South Yorkshire region, with 3.3% of the local population having previously served as part of the regular armed forces and/or the reserve armed forces.

More detailed data and analysis on UK armed forces veterans will be published in 2023. This will include demographic data relating to characteristics, alongside housing and accommodation status, household and family structures, and health and wellbeing.

Further proposed publications into 2024 will include data relating to employment trends and financial situations of the veteran population and contact with the criminal justice system.

Barnsley Council are undertaking a needs assessment to establish how many armed forces community members we have in the borough and where they are located. We will also be trying to find out what sort of issues our local armed forces community are experiencing or areas they may be struggling with or where extra support is needed.

This will help establish if there are any gaps within our current service provision and if these gaps can be filled with what our armed forces community need and services they would benefit from.

To help with this and to complement statistical data available to us, we are looking for some case studies. If you would be interested in contributing and are willing to share any struggles you may have experienced as a member of the armed forces community, either serving or upon leaving the service, we would like to hear from you.

This would be an opportunity to contribute to shaping services for the armed forces community. Please contact armedforcescouncilqueries@barnsley.gov.uk if you would like to be involved.

The Office for Veterans’ Affairs and the Office for National Statistics will be launching the Veterans’ Survey this Autumn. This is the first ever exercise to collect feedback from the veteran’s community across the UK.

The online survey is now live and runs for 12 weeks, giving ex-UK Armed Forces personnel and their families the opportunity to provide direct feedback to the government on their experiences, access to and use of services for veterans.

Responses to the survey will help the government better understand the experiences, needs and wellbeing of the veteran community, and to guide future action.

The government is looking for a wide range of views and would like to encourage as many ex-UK Armed Forces veterans and their families to share feedback.

We encourage the sharing of the link below as appropriate.

Take part in the survey here.