'Uniform to work day' for Reservist at King's
In the run up to Armed Forces Day, reservists across the UK are wearing their Service uniforms to work to raise awareness of the contribution they make to the Armed Forces.
Lucy Van Hoorn (pictured) is a Research Fieldworker at the King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King’s College London, where she works on the Post Operational Screening Trial (POST) reviewing the mental health of those who have returned from deployment.
Lucy is also part of the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and in September 2011, joined HMS President, as a member of the RNR logistics branch. Lucy explains: “The logistics branch provides most forward based support to a maritime component. This means that when there are ships deployed at sea the logistics branch provide a land based site where we can process people, mail and cargo both to the ships from the UK and vice versa. As part of the RNR I have been involved in exercises and have been trained in various aspects of logistics, such as transport and the stowage and movement of cargo.”
She adds: “My civilian role as well as my military role complement each other. My KCMHR job requires me to meet and work on military bases throughout the UK and Germany and so through being in the Reserves I am able to utilise my knowledge to work within these settings, additionally the qualifications and training obtained from the RNR benefits my job. As for the benefit KCMHR has for my military role, my increased knowledge of the welfare provision for serving personnel makes it beneficial to the unit as this information is able to be passed on.”
Lucy with Melanie Chesnokov, co-ordinator for the Post Operational Screening Trial (POST). The map indicates all the locations in the UK where the POST team have screened service personnel returning from deployment for mental health problems.
KCMHR is was founded in 2004 and is a collaboration between the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), the Department of War Studies and the Medical School, each part of King’s College London. Beginning in 2003 with the start of the Iraq War and later expanded to include those deployed in Afghanistan, KCMHR’s flagship project is a large scale study of the Health and Wellbeing of the UK Armed Forces.
KCMHR works directly with the Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health (ACDMH) which is funded by the Ministry of Defence and includes both academic and military personnel seconded to the unit.
Professor Sir Simon Wessely, co-Director of KCMHR, says: “We are delighted to support Uniform to Work day. In fact for us in KCMHR every day is uniform to work day, since we include serving Regular and Reservists members of our Armed Forces within our team, as indeed can be seen from the visual displays outside the IoP which celebrate our partnership with the Armed Forces, showcasing both a Regular medic and a Reservist nurse, part of our Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health. Uniform to Work day will also celebrate all the Reservists who work within our partner NHS trusts, including both the South London and Maudsley and King's College Hospital.”
For further information, please contact Seil Collins, Press Officer, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, email: seil.collins@kcl.ac.uk or tel: (+44) 207 848 5377