James Harrison

The New Year and a training kickstart

HMS UNBROKEN CHALLENGE

Together we can do this.

This year I will be taking on the London to Paris Bike Ride to raise vital funds for life-changing mental health treatment for veterans.

As many of you will know I have worked in Military Mental Health as a Psychiatrist for the last 15 years. I've seen first hand the challenges that our service personnel have experienced and what challenges await them when they leave the service. To not be able to provide the ongoing care after discharge that all of our patient's deserve has always been a source of professional frustration to me and I believe passionately that supporting the mental health of our service people and veterans is of paramount importance.

After more than 15 years at the coalface of military psychiatry it is now well overdue that I find a way to support our veterans who still need that care and support long after leaving the service. 

Combat Stress is the UK's leading charity for veterans' mental health. For over a century, they've helped former servicemen and women deal with issues like trauma, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Today, they provide support to veterans from every service and every conflict.

I'm taking on the challenge of a 500km bike ride from London to Paris to raise much needed funds to support the vital work that Combat Stress do after my colleagues and I have done what we can in service. By raising these funds, it allows me to support those individuals who need more support after they leave the services.

Only Combat Stress is equipped to deliver this care in this way, and if 10 months of training pain and hard work is needed to get me to the end of the challenge, it is the very least I can do to continue to support those that as well as being my patient's have touched and enriched my professional life with their stories. 

I was asked to name someone I am running in memory of - I can't do that, instead I run for every patient I have ever seen, and those that were seen by my colleagues and for who the pain continues.

Thank you so much for your support of this vital charity.