By Casey Neill
Young veterans and their families can find friends and support at the Dandenong RSL.
RSL volunteer and ex-Navy member Anita Hogan recently ran a family fun day to kick-start a concerted effort to encourage the next generation of service men and women to come together.
The Sunday 19 November event was a welfare department initiative supported by Dandenong RSL president John Wells.
“The day was about bringing young vets and their families together and showing them that the RSL is a place for them,” Ms Hogan said.
“We’re planning to have more family-focused events in the future on a regular basis.
“They’re looking at a fishing charter early next year.
“We had feedback forms to see what people would like to do.
“We’re an RSL for all veterans regardless of their age.”
The event included chats from the R U OK? movement and the Quilts of Valour project, lunch, raffles and more.
“If it helps to prevent one person thinking about suicide, that’s what it’s all about,” Ms Hogan said.
“It’s just imperative that they don’t feel isolated, that they feel like they can catch up for a beer and they can do it in a relaxed environment.”
She said the younger vets needed to learn from older ones “and educate them about us at the same time”.
“We can’t do that unless we actually attend the RSL, events and parades,” she said.
“We need to break the cycle.
“I want veterans to remember the resilience and courage that they learnt in the ADF and apply that once they get out as best as they can, in overcoming adversities that they encounter in civvy street.”
Ms Hogan also hosts a coffee morning on the last Tuesday of the month open to women who are serving, have served, or are the partner of a current or former service person.
“I became a volunteer because when I needed the RSL, nobody told me anything about what they could offer,” she said.
“I became a volunteer to give back and because I know what other veterans need from the inside.
“I think that’s the difficulty with a lot of us ex-service people, we don’t feel like we have a purpose.
“We’re lost.”
Call Dandenong RSL on 9792 1535 for more information.
