A DORSET mental health initiative which helps armed forces personnel and their families has been nominated to represent the Southern region in the NHS Birthday Awards.

Dorset Armed Forces Community Health and Wellbeing Project was chosen because it is: "A ground breaking project that has taken an all-inclusive, holistic approach to health and social care provision for armed forces personnel and their families."

The project works in partnership with other organisations and has received excellent feed back from local armed forces leaders and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Veterans. It was put forward by Dorset MPs Michael Tomlinson and Tobias Ellwood MP, who has served in the Army.

Clinical Lead for the Armed Forces Community Health and Wellbeing Team at Dorset HealthCare, Andy Gritt said: “It is great that the hard work that the team is doing to support our armed forces veterans and their families is receiving recognition. I am personally very excited to have been nominated and to be the regional winner for this category is extremely humbling.”

Now Andy and his team will travel to London on Wednesday July 4 - the day before the NHS's 70th birthday - to see if they can become an overall winner, beating teams who have won similar awards in other regions..

The event is part of a range of activities being organised nationally and locally to mark the achievements of the NHS and those who work for and with it.