Our team of salaried staff and volunteers are often drawn from those that have been through our programmes and activities.

Tony Wright, Founder & Chief Executive of Forward Assist joined the Royal Marines in 1978 and was medically discharged in 1981 after seriously injuring his shoulder during basic training.

Tony established Forward Assist(2013) & Salute Her UK (2021) He originally started work in the service charity sector when he set up About Turn CIC in 2009 to assist veterans involved with the CJS make a successful transition from Prison to the community. Following a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travelling Fellowship in 2011, which involved a six week research trip to the USA in 2011, he changed his direction of travel and began to focus on combat veterans that had difficulty accessing trauma informed care and services. He is particularly supportive of combat veterans and/or those that have survived Military Sexual Assault (MSA) and now suffer from Moral Injury, Post Traumatic Stress and Military Sexual Trauma(MST). A Qualified and Registered Social Worker, Former Probation Officer and Home Office Adviser with over 39 years experience of working in a variety of senior management postions within the social welfare sector and voluntary sector, Tony describes himself as a political activist, campaigner and agent of change. The work of Forward Assist to research and then design ‘needs led’ services for previously invisible populations has led to significant policy change within the UK Military, increased understanding and awareness of the unmet intersectional needs of minority groups and new funding streams to develop pathways to help and support. He lives a life led by sobriety, commitment, compassion and being of service to others.

 

CHRIS PRETTY (VETERAN RESEARCHER)

Chris Pretty

Born in West Africa and educated in Suffolk. I joined the Royal Marines in 1978 in the same Troop as Tony Wright and fought in the Falklands War of 1982 and in Northern Ireland. Many skills were gained during my service, of which many were irrelevant to civilian life unless severely adapted before use. Leaving the Corps was a peculiar moment and required some considerable effort to get things right in the world.

Working in the outdoors as a climbing instructor and then a General Manager of an Outdoor Centre gave me good people and management skills but little money. This led to a calculated move into the teaching profession and fulltime work in colleges of further education for two decades which culminated in becoming the Programme Manager and Lecturer of a Degree course. I also completed a variety of research projects with Essex University during my academic career. All through my career in education I continued to climb and develop my skills as a professional mountaineer. On completion of an Honours Degree, a Teaching Degree and then a Masters Degree I found life to be significantly better and over the last ten years 10 years I began work with several UK veterans’ charities by delivering Climbing and Mountaineering training for their beneficiaries. This was especially so for those veterans accessing the support of Forward Assist and their families. I also took part in a Forward Assist Veterans exchange in America and for the last two years have worked with Tony to organise and facilitate veteran respite/retreats for combat veterans in France. I look forward to working with Tony on future veteran retreats and innovative lived experience research projects. In my spare time I enjoy facilitating battlefield tours in Europe and I am also a soon to be published author with Pen and Sword Publishers.