The Muster Point

14/09/2025

📣 The Sunday Muster Update

Big thanks to everyone who came along today for our first Sunday Muster at our new location – Toby Carvery, Stevenage 🍳☕.

With both myself and Steve away, Mark did a cracking job holding the fort and keeping the banter flowing 👏. Great turnout, great company – exactly what The Muster Point is all about.

Here are a few snaps from this morning 📸 … plus, for those who appreciate the finer things in life, a roll of good old flannelette for the GPMG to brighten your day 🔫😉.

The Muster Point continues to grow, and it’s all thanks to each of you showing up and supporting one another. Same time, same laughs, new home – see you at the next one!

⚔️ Veterans. Families. Community.

Toby Carvery
Office for Veterans' Affairs

14/09/2025

🚐 The Muster Point is on the road again!

This time we’re heading north to Sunderland to link up with our good friend Ger Fowler and the team at Veterans in Crisis. 💥

If you’re in the area, drop us a message and come say hello – always good to connect with veterans and supporters wherever we go. 👋

⚔️ Same mission, different town: building camaraderie, raising awareness, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the veteran community.

Veterans In Crisis Sunderland

12/09/2025

🎙️ New Episode Out Now
Beyond the Wire: Claire Lilly on PTSD, Addiction, Veteran Su***de & The Forcer Protocol

This week on The Muster Point Podcast: Beyond the Wire, Stu Mendelson sits down with Claire Lilly – veteran advocate, equestrian specialist with the Household Cavalry, and founder of the Forcer Protocol, a policing strategy now saving veteran lives across the UK.

From the parade grounds of Knightsbridge to the hidden battles of PTSD, addiction, dishonourable discharge, prison, and devastating loss, Claire shares her deeply personal journey alongside her late husband

💔 Out of tragedy came purpose: The Forcer Protocol, now embedded in police forces nationwide, making sure missing veterans receive trauma-informed responses and vital support.

This is a story of raw honesty, hard truths, and hope – proving that even in the darkest hours, change is possible.

👉 Watch now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IxoLQvIUtkQ

Ministry of Defence Herts Police Louise Sandher-Jones MP
***dePrevention

su***de prevention, PTSD, addiction & recovery, Household Cavalry, equine therapy, and the UK-wide Forcer Protocol—how...

11/09/2025

Today I had the great pleasure of speaking with Claire Lilly, founder of The Forcer Protocol, on the podcast. Claire breaks down the sobering truth behind veteran su***de data, from the gaps in 2018 research to the 2021 census findings that revealed a far starker reality:

⚠️ 253 veterans lost in a single year.
⚠️ 4.85 lives a week.
⚠️ Men aged 25–44 at greater risk than civilians.

Numbers that aren’t just statistics; they’re lives, families, and futures. This conversation is raw, urgent, and a reminder why su***de prevention in the veteran community cannot be dismissed.

👉 Watch, share, and join the fight to keep these voices heard.

***dePrevention

11/09/2025

🚀 From One County to Twenty-Six 🏡

“What if councils never had to wrestle with the housing headache again?

✅ Scalable model — from county to county to county
✅ Open book policy with councils
✅ Modular builds, redevelopments, and new housing
✅ A national solution that works for veterans and communities

It’s no wonder the Cabinet Office is paying attention. This isn’t just an idea — it’s a game-changer.

🎧 Hear the full vision on the Muster Point Podcast.

11/09/2025

🏠 From Empty Buildings to Veteran Hubs 🪖

“Some councils sit on thousands of unused assets. Selling them? Short-sighted. Asset transferring them into 100-year leases? That’s vision.

👉 Repurpose old council stock into veteran housing.
👉 Create training facilities and community spaces.
👉 Build hubs where charities and services unite under one roof.

This is the model Veteran Housing Group is driving forward — practical, sustainable, and life-changing.

🎧 Catch the full conversation on The Muster Point Podcast.

11/09/2025

🌹 9/11 – We Will Never Forget 🌹

Today we remember the thousands of innocent lives lost on 11th September 2001.
A day that changed the world forever.

The attacks on New York and Washington marked the beginning of the War on Terror, a conflict that would shape the next two decades and draw countless men and women, including our own British Armed Forces, into operational tours of Afghanistan and Iraq.

For many of us, 9/11 was not just a moment on the news, it was the beginning of journeys that took us to war, cost us brothers and sisters in arms, and left scars that will never truly fade.

We honour:
🇺🇸 The civilians who perished.
🇺🇸 The first responders who ran towards danger.
🇬🇧 The servicemen and women who deployed in the years that followed.
🌹 And the families who still carry the weight of loss today.

Eternal respect. Eternal remembrance.
We will never forget.

10/09/2025

🎙️ New Podcast Short Drop 🎙️

🪖 “You don’t always notice it…
Snapping at the missus. Barking at the kids. Silly mistakes at work. No sleep. Driving to work and not remembering the journey.”

In this clip from the latest Muster Point Podcast, we talk raw and real about hidden struggles veterans (and plenty of others) face and why confronting them is the first step to moving forward.

👉 Don’t ignore the signs. Don’t be afraid to look in the recess and ask: was that you?

10/09/2025

🇬🇧 Welcome Louise Sandher-Jones MP – Our New Minister for Veterans 🇬🇧

We’re delighted to welcome Louise Sandher-Jones MP as she steps into her new role as Minister for Veterans.

Louise is not only one of the few female veterans in Parliament: she understands first-hand the hurdles our Armed Forces community face in housing, healthcare, employment and beyond.

At The Muster Point in Stevenage, we’ve seen the impact of turning the Armed Forces Covenant into tangible support. We’re grateful for the foundations laid by Al Carns, and look forward to working with Louise as she picks up the mantle ensuring that the Office for Veterans' Affairs delivers fairness and dignity to every service member, past and present.

Let’s keep pushing for a veterans agenda that means something, together.

Kevin Bonavia for Stevenage Louise Sandher-Jones MP Al Carns MP



Louise Jones ©House of Commons/Roger Harris

10/09/2025

🚨 The Phantom Bearskin Revealed 🚨

After months of mystery, our regular listener finally steps out from the shadows.

Mike – ex-Grenadier Guard – lifts the lid on life in uniform, the court martial that marked him, the battles with PTSD and su***de, and the road to recovery. It’s raw, unfiltered and brutally honest… with plenty of squaddie banter along the way.

🎥 Watch the full episode here 👉 https://youtu.be/PiH7KjEajXo

⚔️ If you’ve ever wondered what really happens Beyond the Wire – this is one not to miss.

👇 Drop a comment if you’ve ever met a “Phantom” like this in your own unit – the bloke everyone knows, but nobody really knows.


The Red Lion Cricklade

The wait is over. The “Phantom Bearskin” – one of our most talked-about listeners – finally reveals his identity and shares his powerful story.From Grenadier...

10/09/2025

🥓☕ Tuesday Muster Recap + Sunday Muster Update ☕🥓

This week at The Muster Point Breakfast Hub we had a flying visit from our friends at Forces United. They turned up just 10 minutes before we wrapped, which meant no bacon butty for them this time (better luck next week 😅). Always good linking up with other veteran groups and keeping the network strong. 👊

📅 Sunday Muster – 14th September
We’ve got a new location for this one, join us at the Toby Carvery, Stevenage (SG2 2DT), 10am–12pm. Same banter, same camaraderie, just a fresh setting to kick off your Sunday.

👉 And don’t forget, we’re back at Fairlands Valley Lakes every Tuesday, 10am–12pm.

Luther Blissett

09/09/2025

🚨 The Government’s new 10-Year Health Plan has a glaring blind spot.

👉 140 pages — not a single mention of veterans or the Armed Forces community.
👉 Drug & alcohol services? One throwaway line.

This, while alcohol misuse drives 280,000 hospital admissions a year and veterans face rates almost double the general population.

If the NHS was born “amidst the rubble and the ruin of war,” how can it ignore those who fought — and those most in need of recovery?

I’ve written an article on what’s missing, why it matters, and why this plan is not fit for the future until veterans and addiction services are at the centre.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fit-future-veterans-addiction-services-ignored-stuart-mendelson-mrone?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via

Al Carns for Labour Ministry of Defence Office for Veterans' Affairs nhs.uk Change Grow Live

The UK’s 10-Year Health Plan promises innovation for the NHS, but ignores veterans and addiction services—raising serious questions of duty.