Bravehound

Bravehound is a Scottish charity that supports former servicemen, women and their families.[1][2][3] They provide training and dogs to support veterans, some of whom have post-traumatic stress, other mental health issues as well as physical injury. Weekly individual and group training sessions are provided free of charge.[4][5][6] Bravehound is funded by the Chancellor using Libor funds, The Covenant Trust Fund and public fundraising initiatives[7]

Founded2016 (2016)
FounderFiona MacDonald
TypeCharitable organisation
Registration no.Scotland: SC043908
FocusVeterans, Dogs, Mental health
Location
  • Suite 8, Lennoxtown Enterprise Centre, Railway Court, Lennoxtown, G66 7LL
Area served
United Kingdom
Patrons
Damien Lewis ~ Jason Isaacs
Websitewww.bravehound.co.uk

History

Bravehound began in 2016 as the canine wing of the Scottish charity Glen Art who support veterans and their families through various events including Theatre of War (2015 & 2018),[8][9][10]A Night To Remember (2015) featuring Dr Bill Frankland in support of the Parachute Regiment[11][12] and a 2016 memorial concert celebrating the life of Sir Nicholas Winton in support of Syrian refugees.[13][14]

Activities

Bravehound's first dog Irma was paired with a veteran of 22 years military service. At the 2017 Animal Hero Awards Irma received the prize for 'Caring Animal Of The Year'. [15] [16]

Bravehound was voted the UK's best Voluntary/Charity project in the National Lottery Awards 2017.[17] Invictus Games medallist JJ Chalmers visited the organisation to deliver the news. Chalmers, a former Royal Marine served in Afghanistan.[18]

In January 2019 Bravehound founder and CEO Fiona MacDonald was chosen by UK Prime Minister Theresa May for a Points of Light Award which recognises "outstanding volunteers who are making a change in their community".[19][20]

In April 2019 Bravehound won the Soldiering On Award for animal partnership; The Soldiering On Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of those who have served their country, and the diverse people and groups who work together in support of the Armed Forces Community.[21] [22]

In July 2020 Bravehound joined with The Theatre of War Project, presenting an online performance with Jason Isaacs, Nyasha Hatendi, Lesley Sharp and David Elliot. Theater of War Productions presents readings of Sophocles' Ajax and Philoctetes for military and civilian communities.[23][24][25]

Scent of a nightmare

Bravehound and Robert Hewings (ex-police dog handler and the Parachute Regiment) are working on a research project that involves training dogs to recognise the scent of nightmares. The charity works with Hewings, studying how dogs can be taught to sniff out a nightmare, when veterans may give off a scent of extra cortisol, adrenaline and sweat. Dogs can be taught to intervene when veterans are having anxiety attacks, which may be linked to the scent of added cortisol release, leading the dogs to wake them, jump onto their lap or seek attention to calm them down. In an interview, Hewing explained:[26][27][28][29]

When that scent of a nightmare sparks a thought process in the dog, so the scent of the nightmare becomes the antecedent - something that makes the dog do something - the behaviour. The dog gently gets up onto the veteran’s chest and gently licks their neck or does whatever we have trained the dog to do to appease the veteran.

Patrons

Awards

2017 'Caring Animal Of The Year' at the Animal Hero Awards.
2017 UK's 'Best Voluntary/Charity Project' in the National Lottery Awards.
2019 Points of Light Award
2019 Soldiering On Awards 2019 (Animal Partnership)

See also

References
  1. "Dogs help veterans cope with post-traumatic stress". BBC Scotland. 24 July 2017.
  2. "Bravehound dog companions help veterans cope with PTSD". Daily Express. 1 March 2017.
  3. "Veterans charity providing dogs for ex-servicemen". Daily Record (Scotland). 23 August 2017.
  4. "UK Lottery Projects - COMBATING PTSD". Veterans Foundation. 3 June 2016.
  5. "British Army hero working with the Scottish charity Bravehound". Daily Mirror. 24 September 2017.
  6. "A dog is mans best friend". This Morning ITV (Vimeo hosting). 20 June 2016.
  7. "Vets with pets make transition a safer bet". Armed Forces Covenant. 30 March 2018.
  8. "Eddie Mair-BBC Radio4 PM Show - Theatre of War". BBC Radio4. 28 March 2018.
  9. "New War on Stress is all Greek to us" (PDF). Daily Record. 26 March 2018.
  10. "Army turns to Greek tragedy to help troops open up about PTSD". The Telegraph. 13 May 2017.
  11. "Discovering Glen Art". Creative Scotland (Executive NDPB of the Scottish Government). 11 November 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  12. "A Night To Remember". Glen Art memorial service at St Dunstan-in-the-West (video). 11 November 2015.
  13. "Concert celebrating Sir Nicholas Winton to raise funds for Syrian refugees". Jewish News. March 16, 2016.
  14. "Birmingham musicians honour 'British Schindler'". Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. 6 May 2016.
  15. "Meet the inspiring winners at the Animal Hero Awards 2017". Independent Ireland. 7 September 2017.
  16. "Animal Hero Awards 2017". Glasgow Times. 7 September 2017.
  17. "Bravehound wins 'Best Charity' in the National Lottery Awards". The Confederation of Service Charities (Cobseo). 24 August 2017.
  18. "Scottish charity project Bravehound wins national award". TFN. 22 August 2017.
  19. "Points of Light Award". The Gazette. 25 January 2019.
  20. "Points of Light Award". Points of Light. January 2019.
  21. "Soldiering On Awards 2019". Soldiering On. 6 April 2019.
  22. "Soldiering On". Bravehound. 6 April 2019.
  23. "Jason Isaacs in online performance of Greek tragedies to help charity". Belfast Telegraph. 15 July 2020.
  24. "Lesley Sharp talks about her Edinburgh roots". The Scotsman. 26 May 2021.
  25. "We've never needed Gene Roddenberry's vision more than we need it now – Isaacs". The Irish News. 11 September 2021.
  26. "Bravehound: the dogs giving war veterans a lift". BBC. 26 April 2018.
  27. "Scottish war veterans' dog charity hit by Covid cash crisis". The Times. 11 October 2020.
  28. "Sniffer dogs and the smell of nightmares". The Naked Scientists. 24 April 2018.
  29. "Scent of a Nightmare". Bravehound. 28 April 2018.
  30. "Angus Bravehound pup Antis set for movie fame in film about famous wartime namesake". The Courier=13 March 2018.
  31. "Harry Potter Star Jason Isaacs Joins Stage Project To Help Veterans Cope With War Trauma". Forces Net. 10 July 2020.
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