News
TRH attend a service at Westminster Abbey to mark the 90th anniversary of Combat Stress
12th May 2009
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall have joined former servicemen at Westminster Abbey to acknowledge the achievements of a charity which has helped thousands of psychologically scarred military veterans rebuild their lives.
Their Royal Highnesses were among the congregation for a service of commemoration, celebration and rededication to mark the 90th anniversary of the organisation Combat Stress of which The Prince is Patron.
The charity was founded in May 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War, which left many soldiers shell-shocked and mentally damaged.
Over the following nine decades, almost 100,000 people have been helped by Combat Stress, which provides short-stay clinical treatment and community outreach services.
It is caring for 4,000 ex-servicemen and women, including 265 who served in Iraq and 58 who were deployed to Afghanistan, with the youngest veterans aged just 20.
During the service the work of the charity was celebrated through hymns, prayers and readings.
The address was given by the Right Rev David Conner, Dean of Windsor and Bishop to the Armed Forces.
He highlighted how many veterans take more than a decade to seek help for the psychological problems they are suffering - on average about 14 years.
He told the congregation: "There are too many people who have served in our armed forces, or who at present offer service in this way, who are nursing hidden wounds today and who have not yet asked for help. There will be many, many more.
"The hidden wounds they suffer are wounds suffered in our name and for our benefit - too easily we can ask too much of them."