WRACA Supports Veterans During Pandemic

A buddy scheme which pairs up female army veterans to offer emotional support during the pandemic has helped more than 125 people in the past year - and wants to reach more.

The Buddy-Buddy scheme is run by the Women’s Royal Army Corporation Association, a charity which provides comradeship, friendship and support to over 3,000 members, as well as distributing grants to members in need of financial assistance.

It was set up in early 2020 and became a lifeline for older female veterans experiencing loneliness or isolation due to the pandemic. They were supported with regular phone calls and social contact by other veterans, or by women currently serving in the British Army.

Veterans Jan Downie, 70 and Jo Ferguson, 52, both joined the scheme with the intention of supporting others, but ended up forming a friendship which helped them both to deal with the challenges of the past year.

Jan, who worked as a weapons tester during her service, missed regular contact with her daughter and granddaughters. She explained: “I got the idea to join the Buddy-Buddy scheme whilst watching ‘Raw Recruits: Squaddies at 16’ on TV. I thought maybe I would be a good motherly figure to someone like the young women in the programme and it would be a good way to offer support to anyone feeling lonely.”

She began to have weekly phone conversations with Jo, and the pair found their chats to be mutually beneficial.

Jan said: “I think you will always have something in common with other ex services, and you’ll always get on. Jo and I definitely do and I think it's because we have similar outlooks on life.”

Jo served as a doctor in the Royal Medical Corps for 30 years. She also joined the Buddy-Buddy scheme to help others, but found her friendship with Jan very beneficial to her own wellbeing during the pandemic.

She said: “Being buddies with Jan is great. For someone I’ve never met, we have a good gossip and get on really well, we talk every week and it is very natural. We Army people have a lot of similarities.

“The perks of the Buddy-Buddy scheme are that it provides a fixed point in the week where you get outside of yourself. This is so valuable right now, particularly for people feeling particularly penned in.”

Colonel (Retd) Ali Brown, Vice-President of the WRAC Association added: “In all times of national emergencies, women who have served in the British Army have bonded together to support each other in whatever ways are required.

“The current situation, with the social isolation imposed to protect us all from COVID-19, has necessitated new ways of maintaining and delivering this support.

“Technology is being utilised wherever possible to ensure the distribution of benevolence grants can continue, to hold virtual branch meetings, to ensure regular contact with our elderly members and to and enable us to reach out to serving personnel.”

To find out more about the Buddy-Buddy scheme and other assistance available to female veterans, visit the WRAC Association website or follow them on Twitter.