Shout! magazine’s first issue of the decade is out now, full of the latest updates from The Fire Fighters Charity.
Before we tell you about all the lovely features you can find inside our Spring 2020 issue, we have an important thing to say first.
Like many publications, we create our content months in advance of Shout! landing on your doorstep or in your inbox. Since we sent this issue to print, the global situation with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has reached such an extent that some of the features inside this issue – in particular those related to public events – are now out of date. That being said, they will be true and relevant for life afterwards, when we have come through this together.
Right. Now that has been said, we’re delighted to be able to tell you just what you can find inside this issue.
Scottish firefighter Alistair McNab is our cover star, sharing the story of his gradual path to homelessness after a prolonged bout of poor physical and mental health led to him living in the shed at the bottom of his mum’s garden. Thanks to the care he received at Jubilee House, he has learned coping mechanisms to help him through the darker days. And thanks to our Welfare Services team, he now has a place to call home where his daughters and grandson can visit him safely.
We’re also chatting to some of our incredible Charity staff, including two of our Assessment Practitioner team who work on our Support Line (which remains open to support beneficiaries through these difficult times) and we spend a day with our wonderful Nursing Team at Jubilee House.
Our Chief Executive and Chair of the Trustee Board sit down to discuss the progress of the Charity over the last few years and what our attention is going to be for the next few.
This April will be the tenth anniversary of the Shirley Towers fire in Southampton, where two Hampshire firefighters, Jim Shears and Alan Bannon, were killed trying to tackle the blaze. We speak to Carla Shears to hear how running has been her saviour in the years that followed their deaths, and why raising money for the Charity that supported her family in the immediate aftermath of the fire has been an important part of her healing.
Just because the London Marathon has been postponed until the autumn, doesn’t mean it’s too early to be celebrating the amazing runners pushing themselves to the limit in our name. So it may not be taking place when we say it does, but we’re still paying tribute to those people who’ve been working tirelessly in their fundraising and training in preparation for the big day… which will now be in October… hopefully.
It has also been 25 years since we opened Jubilee House, our first-ever purpose-built centre. Our Director of Beneficiary Services Sharon Bailey was working as a nurse at the time the centre opened. She reflects on how the opening marked the start of a new era of rehabilitation for the era and how much things have changed and developed since 1995.
As always, our magazine is also full of practical tips and advice for improving your health and wellbeing. Physiotherapist Thea Boyd and Lead Practitioner Chris Gould explain when people should consider getting in touch with us during recovery from physical injury or operation. Psychological Therapist Anneliese Underwood has some advice for improving your sleep hygiene, Nursing Services Lead Kath Savage explains the signs of ovarian cancer and Welfare Services Lead Carrie Pearce explains what sort of things her team can support beneficiaries with.
Plus our cheeky friend Blaze Bear has some more activities for the younger members of your household to take part in (we feel this may be especially useful at the moment!) 
For all of this and much more, pick up a copy of Shout or hit the link below. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for even more news from across the Charity throughout the year.