Healing The Wounds, the Welsh charity which helps treat sufferers of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), has started raising its profile with a national radio campaign.
The campaign features Paul Thomas, an army veteran who has benefited from the treatment course organised by Healing The Wounds.
“We are delighted that the people who have come through our first treatment courses are feeling the benefit of the help we are able to give them,” said charity founder and Executive Director Kevin Richards.
“We are working hard to raise our profile to make sure that people the length and breadth of Wales know who we are, what we are about and how we can help people who suffer from PTSD.
“Paul’s testimonial is the best possible advertisement for Healing The Wounds – a veteran who has been able to turn his life around following treatment for PTSD.”
The radio campaign is currently running on Real Radio, Nation Radio, Bridge FM and Radio Carmarthenshire. You can listen to it on the website – http://www.healingthewounds.co.uk/
The charity, which recently announced actor Michael Sheen as a new patron, now has an office and treatment rooms at The Enterprise centre in Bryn Road, Tondu, Bridgend.
“The move to new offices takes the charity to a new level,” said Mr Richards.
“Previously, we were working from home. Now, we have a professional office which will help us raise the charity’s profile in the community.
“The new office also has treatment rooms which will allow our trained practitioners to treat PTSD sufferers. This work is crucially important to us as a charity as we have a waiting list of people who need to receive PTSD treatment. We have members of the armed forces waiting for PTSD treatment and we also have people from the civilian sector of the emergency services.
“At the outset, we always said that we would spread our wings and treat people from the armed forces (either serving or veterans) and people from the civilian services who have been left suffering from PTSD because of the work that they do on behalf of the community.
“Our long term aim remains to establish a larger PTSD treatment and convalescent centre in Wales, but we do not have the funds for that at the moment.”
Mr Richards added: “Since we set up the charity, one thing has become clear – the people of Wales want us to spend the money on the people who deserve it most. Those are the people who sadly suffer from PTSD because they have had to endure some terrible things all in the line of duty and service for their country and their local community.
“Our key target has also been to make sure that these brave men and women are treated as close as possible to their homes. We are not like other charities which will quite happily ship people to other parts of Britain for treatment. We want people from Wales to be treated in Wales and as close as possible to the homes of their family and friends.”
