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Welcome to our November newsletter! Our toolkit is being launched NEXT WEEK!!! We need you to help us promote it, to anyone who either works with or supports female veterans.

If you’re not already, please give us a follow on LinkedIn and Facebook. Simple likes, shares and comments really go a long way in terms of reach and showcasing what we’re all about - making things better for female veterans, and of course showcasing and celebrating women who served.

An Update from the Programme

We’ve had a busy Summer full of photoshoots, filming, a theatre project and further co-design and testing of our toolkit. July saw the team photograph 79 female veterans across 7 days in 5 locations. There was a good spread of Service representation with Army (45%), Royal Navy (32%) and RAF (23%) all represented - including WRNS, WRAC and WRAF of course. A big thank you to all the lovely women who came along and let Agora work their photography magic! We couldn’t have done this without you.

We were lucky to film two fantastic organisations; Veterans Outdoors and High Ground, where we captured female veteran beneficiaries undertaking activities with the two charities. In addition, the Gordon Messenger Centre at Lympstone were kind enough to let us film our toolkit workshop, with around 30 different service providers attending, feeding back to us what they liked and didn’t like about the toolkit, and also capturing their views on film as to why this work is important. We are excited to share the videos that our film maker, Martin Bisiker of Legasee, has been working hard on over the past few weeks.

Over the summer, we partnered with a group of female veterans and The Drive Project to create a powerful film showcasing women's military experiences. Through online and face-to-face storytelling workshops, participants shaped and developed the script for this creative piece, which will premiere at our toolkit launch event. The film highlights both the challenges and rewards of female military service, offering practical insights for organisations on how to provide better support. It will serve as a key education and awareness tool alongside the toolkit throughout the coming year.

Pictured: Mother and daughter duo, Ronnie and Becky at one of our photoshoots.

Welcome to the Team, Ria Luke!

We are delighted to introduce Ria Luke, who has recently joined the Female Veterans Transformation Program as our new Project Officer. With over 15 years of experience working alongside the military in various capacities, including significant contributions to the military charity sector, Ria brings a wealth of knowledge and dedication to our team. Her experience includes working directly with serving females across various military bases in admin roles, medical centres, and as a sports therapist, giving her invaluable insight into the challenges faced by women in the armed forces.

Ria is hitting the ground running as we approach the exciting launch of our Toolkit in November, and she will continue to play a vital role in supporting the team throughout the coming year. Alongside her work with us, Ria runs her own therapy practice, Ri-Balance Therapies, where she supports veterans and serving personnel in navigating the unique challenges they face. Her passion for the military community shines through in the retreats, one-to-one therapy sessions, and workshops she offers across various locations.

Ria's connection to military life runs deep—she is part of an active military family, with a serving Royal Marine husband, children, and a menagerie of animals, including a horse who is himself a veteran from RM Bickleigh. This personal understanding, combined with her professional expertise, makes her perfectly positioned to champion our mission. We're thrilled to have Ria channelling her passion and experience into supporting female veterans through this important project. With a special thanks to The Veterans Foundation for funding this important role within the project.

Aurora New Dawn Armed Forces Support Service

Aurora New Dawn offers specialist support for Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force personnel and veterans, along with their families, who are experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence or stalking. Understanding that service life brings unique challenges, Aurora has developed their Armed Forces support service with the specific needs of the military community in mind.

The service provides one-to-one support and advocacy, recovery group programmes designed for the forces community, and help navigating the Service or Criminal Justice System. They work with women and men aged 16 and over across the UK and overseas. Their approach is led by what clients want to do, without pressure to take particular actions before they're ready, and they'll provide support whether or not the abuse has been reported to police.

Aurora works independently from the Armed Forces and Chain of Command but has built strong relationships with military welfare services. Several team members have forces connections or service experience themselves, which helps them understand military life.

Helpline & WhatsApp: 0333 0912 527 (Helpline open Monday-Friday, 9am-3pm GMT)

Aurora released their 'Invisible Battles' report in June 2025, highlighting the barriers armed forces personnel face in seeking help: https://aurorand.org.uk/released-today-invisible-battles-report/

More at: https://aurorand.org.uk/armed-forces/

Female Veteran Author

Victoria Hall wrote Making Sense of Me: Nothing changes until I change after reaching burnout in her legal career. Before that, she served as a Logistics Officer in the Royal Air Force, where she valued the structure, camaraderie and shared purpose of military life. Leaving that environment behind, she moved into law and progressed quickly to partner level. But despite the outward success, she found the legal world often conflicted with the values and sense of belonging she had carried from her service.

The book shares how Victoria rebuilt her resilience and rediscovered who she wanted to be, drawing on both lived experience and neuroscience. That journey gave her the foundation to co-found Impact Lawyers, a firm built on collaboration, integrity and innovation. Her hope is that it helps others navigating change to pause, reassess and take back control—because nothing changes until we do.

Heidi Burton - Handbags and Home

In 2010, whilst serving in the Royal Air Force as a Photographer, she picked up an ancient sewing machine for £20 and decided to experiment. After discovering she wasn't suited to making clothes, she tried her hand at handbags and found her passion. She loved the buzz of carrying something she'd made herself and gifting them to friends and family.

When she left the RAF in 2012 and settled in the South West with her husband, photography was meant to be her career path. Word quickly spread about her bags, and people began requesting commissions. Initially working with Harris Tweed, everything changed when she was asked to create a tote bag from RAF uniform as a gift from mother to daughter. She made a handbag for an ex-Royal Navy photographer friend using uniform, badges and buttons—when she posted about it on Facebook, the response was overwhelming.

Her range has since expanded to cushions, footstools (following an upholstery course during Resettlement), and evening clutch bags that customers love wearing with mess dress. She also creates memory items, which she finds particularly moving and meaningful, especially those made for parents of personnel who died in service.

While photography remains part of her work, sewing has become central to her working life. She loves creating pieces for service and ex-service personnel, particularly women, seeing their career histories reflected in medal ribbons, rank badges and braid. The feedback and photos of customers wearing her bags to mess functions bring her immense joy.

Our Evidence Review showed that there isn’t much available in terms of female veteran research - either women targeted, or sex-disaggregated - but it’s beginning to be explored more. Want to be part of that change? Check out the opportunities available on our website.

Female Veterans Alliance will be in Newcastle on Thursday 13th November running their final workshop for women who served. We will be there too - see you there?

Get your ticket here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/femaleveteransalliance/1845246?