Commendation from a princess

A LYMM resident has received a commendation from Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace.
Alan Lilly, who lives in Oughtrington with his two sons, was awarded the Commendation by the Butler Trust which “celebrates outstanding dedication, skill and creativity on the part of those working in correctional settings across the UK”.
He received the award from Princess Anne, who is Patron for the Butler Trust, for setting up and running the Cheshire Probation Trust (ex-Armed Forces) “Veteran Support Officer” (VSO) initiative.
Alan said: “I served for 16-and-a-half years in the Army joining straight from school and found the transition back to being a civilian quite challenging.
“I eventually found employment within the Prison Service. I then joined the Probation Service in 2002 with a role as an Offender Manager working in Wilmslow, Macclesfield, and latterly, Warrington. I combined my experiences of being a military veteran and working in the Criminal Justice System to set up and manage the VSO team”.
“The majority of those leaving the Armed Forces rejoin society fairly seamlessly, however, a number of veterans find the transition overwhelming and get into difficulty, a further few end up in the Criminal Justice System. It can be pretty tough on the veteran, but equally so for the family as well, and that includes mums and dads at home”.
Alan, whose two boys currently study at Lymm High School, has just left Cheshire Probation Trust to take up a post as Senior Veterans Manager with Live At Ease.
He said: “The Live At Ease team have been commissioned by the NHS to provide a non-clinical, ‘wrap-around’ service for their NHS partners, the Military Veterans Service Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) which in turn provides a bespoke mental health provision for any military veterans and their families in the North West region.
“Our Live At Ease team helps provide specialist support and advice to the local veteran community regarding housing, employment, debt management, relationship difficulties, training, wellbeing and welfare, however, if the problems include anxiety, depression, PTSD, hyper-vigilance, anger management , stress, sleep or substance misuse (alcohol / drug misuse) then the MVS IAPT team step in.
“We work alongside and often use the services of established ex-Armed Forces welfare agencies including, the Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Combat Stress, the SPVA, RFEA, and other veteran friendly organisations.
If anyone would like help or advice the Freephone number is 0808 123 1 123.”