Episode 1 Alex Polizzi: Hire Our Heroes

If you can imagine a place where you know people are going to kill you.

Fire!

You know, one minute you see a bus full of kids and a family

and that going through, and then the next...

You see all these films, these war films and everything,

but nothing's ever close to the real situation you're put in.

After nearly a decade of intense fighting,

many of our soldiers are leaving the military, but now they've

returned, thousands are struggling to find work on civvy street.

I fought a battle in the army and now I'm fighting a battle every day.

I think he feels let down, really let down.

He was willing to give his life.

He wants to get out there and to be like every other man.

Everything that I could probably turn my hand to, I've applied to.

I don't know why I'm not getting any work.

It's demoralising, especially when you've got a skill

and you can't get a job to apply it, you know?

He's just not the same person any more.

I'm Alex Polizzi and I want to find out why this is happening

and what can be done about it.

I would like to try and find you careers,

something you can grow and develop and enjoy.

We just all want a chance, that's all we do, we just want a chance.

They're not out of work because they're lazy.

I need a kick up the arse.

'I'm here to provide it.'

Don't make any rash decisions, and don't give up yet.

I want to do more than stand by the side of the road and wave a flag.

I just need... just that one door to open.

Hopefully I can go out and work. I need to support my family.

I've had my life on hold for that long now, I need to move on.

I obviously can't guarantee anybody a job at the end of it,

but I'm going to give it a bloody good shot.

Plymouth in Devon,

a city with a long military history, home to the largest Naval base in

Western Europe and almost 19,000 ex-service personnel.

This is what I know, here. I feel like somebody again.

Yet even in this proud military city, ex-army man Lee Shaw has

found himself jobless on the civilian scrapheap.

I've got a little camping air bed bit, two sleeping bags

and then a duvet.

Yeah, it's bloody hard.

Slept on the back of a tank, so I can't complain, really.

It could be worse.

Yeah, it's not too bad, gets cold in the evening,

so the fire goes on,

but at the moment, unluckily,

I'm sleeping on the floor.

Lee realised a boyhood dream

when he joined the Royal Tank Regiment at just 19

and saw active service when he was part of the first wave of soldiers

who took Basra in the Iraq war.

But a few days after his 21st birthday on a tour of Kosovo,

he witnessed a scene that would turn his life upside down.

-NEWSREADER:

-The bus was ripped apart by a remote controlled bomb.

There were 50 on board, among them women and children.

Seven passengers died at the scene. More than 40 were injured.

The first thing that I saw on the floor was a shoe with a foot in it,

and the foot was still smoking, like a sausage on a barbecue.

You know, bodies all over the place, there was

a women with half of her face missing, just hanging on with skin.

Yeah, I remember it vividly, it just hasn't left.

I want it to bloody leave, but it just won't seem to go.

My brother had gone out to Kosovo, but my brother hadn't come back.

You can see it in his eyes.

You know, that little special glint that my brother had

will probably never come back.

He's just not the same person any more.

In 2009, after a decade of service,

Lee was medically discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder

or PTSD. Since then, on civvy street, he's struggled to find work.

He's been knocked back a lot with trying to find a job.

In six years, I've probably applied for close to 250, maybe,

300 jobs, I've applied for.

I've tried to re-train myself.

It is just an uphill struggle at the moment, I've kind of hit a plateau

where everything's just not moving the way I want it to move.

I just need... just that one door to open,

and then things will then, no doubt, fall into place.

If that door can open, it'll be fantastic.

It's one o'clock, take my medication and I thought I'd show a video.

There's this for sleeping

and this for the other stuff.

I've come across this guy, Lee Shaw, who's doing a PTSD diary.

He was medically discharged from the army in 2009,

and he's still not working, and so it seems obvious to me

that that is at least a significant reason for him being unemployed.

Lee isn't alone, it's believed there are 120,000 unemployed veterans

in Britain of working age, who just can't get a break on civvy street.

To understand this better, I've contacted Lee,

and he's agreed to give me a first-hand account of his experience.

Lee's Twitter feed kind of reveals what the man is thinking,

and again and again there are comments about his joblessness.

"I think, I know I keep moaning about how bloody hard it is to get a job,

"four and a half years now, getting a bit of a joke."

So this is a year and a half ago, he was already then feeling miserable.

"Need a spot of luck, mine has all gone."

This is someone who's served his country for ten years.

I mean, it's terrible to think that aged 30 or so...

..he just can't find anyone who's going to give him a chance.

Lee's now living off his army pension and benefits

in a council flat after separating from his wife.

I don't want to be, you know, another statistic that lives off the bloody system,

far from it, you know, I hate it.

You know, I've always worked.

Yeah, I don't want to be like this for the rest of my bloody life,

good God, no, I'd be in an earlier grave if I stayed like this.

It is depressing, living like this.

That's prefect, thanks, darling.

'I'm hoping Lee will let me work with him,

'so that I can start to understand what's going wrong.

'Not only for him,

'but for the many veterans who feel rejected now they are home.'

-Hi.

-Hi, Alex, nice to meet you, come in.

-Nice to meet you too.

-Come on in to my work in progress.

-May I?

-Yeah, yeah, come on in.

-Thank you.

-To my humble room at the moment.

Well, you've got a bed.

I have, finally, which is fantastic. That took...

That arrived on the same day when I got the furniture.

How did you get it?

Through charities, forces charities,

and without them it's kind of...a struggle.

The front room, doing my feature wall with a nice chocolate brown,

that's still a work in progress.

This whole flat's really a work in progress.

I know, but you've got a telly, computer, you've got a sofa,

-I mean, you've got the elements here that you need, don't you?

-Yeah.

-And this?

-Cambrai 2000. This was my first ever Cambrai, which is

a battle honour that we've got.

What's the difference between you there and you now?

When I was in the army,

I was indestructible.

You know, my wife used to say that I was Captain Scarlett.

She wanted to get me a toy of it and everything,

but then I was more outgoing, more confident.

You know, nothing fazed me when I was in the army.

Am I right in understanding that you've sent off an enormous number

of job applications, but you very rarely get to the interview stage?

Not even a reply back, either, saying, "Thanks, but no thanks,"

and trying to pick yourself up from that, it's quite hard to do, because

I know a lot of guys who suffer from PTSD -

once we get into a little cycle, it's hard to break that cycle

because the job I had last year,

I had a turn at work, an episode, I had two weeks' sick leave,

and they kind of said,

"Thanks, but no, thanks. The job's no longer there."

So when you had a turn at work, what happened?

Er... You know when people get claustrophobic

and everything comes in around them, that's what it was,

like the whole world was caving in, just crying. I very rarely cry,

if I cry, I cry by myself, not in front of everybody.

Are you clear about your PTSD on your CV?

No, I don't put it on there.

So that isn't something that's...

-No, no.

-..putting people off.

I mean, if they ask if I've got anything, I'll tell them,

but if they don't ask, I don't tell them.

Many veterans claim there is a perception that they've

returned from war mad, bad or sad.

But if Lee isn't disclosing his PTSD to employers, then there must be

another reason why he's been knocked back for over 200 jobs.

I'd like to have a look at your CV, go through it with you.

There's not many jobs where it's going to be useful to someone

that you've got an advanced gunnery Challenger 2 and GPMG

and jungle warfare, as sexy as it sounds,

doesn't have any place on this CV,

whereas there are some that should be right at the top of that list.

You need to point out how those skills are transferable.

I'm quite keen to help you get your confidence back

and press the reset button,

and forget about the 200 plus jobs you've applied for.

You've just got to draw a line under it - that was then,

this is now and we're only looking forward.

OK?

-All right?

-Lovely. Thanks, Alex.

-Look forward to our next meeting.

-Likewise.

-Thanks.

It's going to give me a kick up the ass, a bit of positivity,

to push me in the right direction,

definitely. It'll be nice.

I imagine that Lee is not unique in this position.

This must be the same set of problems that

many veterans are facing when they leave the armed forces.

The combination of no work, lack of structure

because they don't have a job, readjusting to civilian life,

having to learn everything,

because the army teaches learned helplessness, which is that

it looks after you completely.

It cooks your meals, it pays your bills, it does your laundry.

Having to start to do that for yourself all over again

must be a very hard hill to climb.

In the last five years, MoD redundancies

and the drawdown from Afghanistan have seen many

thousands of veterans land on civvy street in need of work.

I think it's hard not to feel passionately about guys

who are coming back who've seen some terrible things,

who are then struggling to readjust to civilian life.

That's what first caught my interest, reading first-hand accounts

of people who kind of felt like they'd left the armed forces

and that they were somehow washed up, finished,

that their lives were over, that no-one was interested in them.

One way or another, they've either fought or were prepared to

fight a battle, and they shouldn't be fighting a battle at home.

So, my aim is a very practical one, to try

and make sure that those people, who are, after all, very highly skilled,

very highly trained in the armed forces,

find an outlet, a use for all that training in their future lives.

The more I look into this issue,

the more I hope I can make a real difference.

I have a plan to work with a council to try

and run a pilot scheme in one city

aimed at getting veterans jobs.

But I also want to work directly with a small

unit of unemployed veterans I can personally mentor back into work.

"Around one in 25 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars

"are likely to develop PTSD.

"Furthermore, it often occurs along other medical problems

"such as pain, disability and substance misuse."

My focus in that unit will be men who suffer with PTSD.

As well as being personally interested in the condition,

they also seem to be the ones who face the biggest

obstacles in getting jobs.

In Saltburn by the Sea,

I've come across another veteran blighted by PTSD.

Some of my memorabilia from my past.

23-year-old guardsman.

Phil's plight captured my interest

when I learnt about his distinguished military career.

To be a pallbearer at Princess Diana's funeral was just

such an honour to be chosen.

One of the days I will never forget and cherish for the rest of my life.

I remember that bloke, I do, I remember him...

..but I'm not him any more.

Phil served four years in the Horse Guards

and 11 in the Royal Engineers.

He served in Iraq

and survived intense front-line combat in Afghanistan.

If you could imagine being put into a place where you know

people are going to kill you.

You're just waiting for a vehicle to blow up,

waiting if it's going to be your vehicle or not.

It was hell on Earth.

It's always up in there.

You always remember it, you never forget it, and it's hard.

He has nightmares, he has a lot of nightmares and he shakes.

He smashed the trophies

he's got from the army in temper,

because he's just been

so, you know, upset.

As well as battling mental ill health,

Phil is coming to terms with life as an amputee.

I've sustained multiple injuries. I couldn't hardly walk,

so they said, "You will have a better quality of life

"with an amputation."

Phil suffers debilitating nerve pain in his leg,

which has affected his ability to work. He is awaiting a final

operation which he hopes will allow him to move on with his life.

It'll be good to see you going out of that door in the morning,

and then coming back at night and being full of work talk.

He has lost his motivation, being sat at home all the time.

He wants to get work.

He'll be so much happier.

He needs a job so badly, so very, very badly,

and maybe then we can stop worrying.

I just want him happy. I just want him HAPPY.

I just want to be a normal person,

and be able to go out and work

like a normal person does, and fends for his family,

and...that's what I want.

It is thought one in five veterans of the wars in Iraq

and Afghanistan have some kind of mental illness.

Although it may have an impact on their suitability for certain jobs,

it shouldn't be stopping these veterans finding new careers.

I've invited Phil and Lee to London

so I can start helping them to find jobs.

Joining them to form my small unit of recruits are two other

ex-soldiers, also medically discharged with mental illness.

Stuart, an infantryman, who was discharged last year,

and Shaun, a private in the Royal Signals, who left 15 years ago.

All these men come from different regiments,

they did different jobs, they left the army at different times

and they were in for different amounts of times,

but they share this one common problem, which is that they

have not been able to find a job.

I'm looking forward to just starting a new life outside

the military, really, just leaving it behind.

It's going to be a challenge, a good challenge, though.

I'm determined to try and ready these guys for the job market,

although I'm not yet 100% sure of the best way of doing it.

It's quite a tough, intractable problem.

I obviously can't guarantee anybody a job at the end of it,

but I'm going to give it a bloody good shot.

Gentlemen!

Good morning, thank you so much for coming to meet me here.

Hopefully you're going to find it a productive day.

I've been looking into why people leave the military and then

don't get into work, but I'd love to hear your opinion of why that is.

I think it's just how they perceive us.

It's like you're a mass murderer just come out of prison

kind of thing, like you're going to kill everybody.

-They look as though you're a liability.

-Yeah.

-That's the sad thing, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

Because the longer it goes on without someone giving you

that chance, the more your confidence takes a knock,

and then the less able you are to present yourself properly.

I feel like I've been running around like a headless chicken

for the last 15 years, you know, not really getting any

good advice, not getting proper direction, you know.

I would like to try and find you careers,

something that you actually think that you could grow and develop

and enjoy, because that is what work is all about.

-Self-worth.

-Something that makes you want to get up in the morning.

Yes, and my sense of self-worth is really tied up in what I do,

and it seems obvious to me that the first thing we need to sort out is

your CVs, because that is the first thing that lands on someone's desk.

My first task is drawing up CVs

that stand a fighting chance of not being binned.

These guys' self-esteem is at rock bottom. They'll struggle to

sell themselves, so I've recruited some specialist help.

Hi, how nice to meet you.

This is the gang all together.

'Andrew spent four years in army recruitment

'and now helps persuade companies of the value of veterans.'

What we found was that lots of employers want to hire you,

but don't understand the skills, experience, and the knowledge

that you've got and today's focus is all about skills.

We'll start by looking at the jobs that you've done in the military,

and then convert those into the language of a commercial employer

and then build up a CV from that.

All right, well, let's get to work.

They're not out of work because they're lazy. They want a job,

they just, in a way, can't work out what

they need to do to get to that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

We need to give businesses a reason to employ these men.

Which is where I hope Andrew's team can help.

What makes it really tough is that most veterans have only ever

had one employer and have no idea how military skills might translate

to the civilian job market.

Career history, examples below,

do it in reverse chronological with the most recent at top.

Stuart joined up at 16, straight from school,

and went on to win

a clutch of medals for his army service.

14 years on, civvy street might as well be the moon.

"Full amount outstanding 154" - that must be the whole year, is it?

See, I don't know that. I don't understand it, really.

When you're a child, they do everything for you -

the army's the same, it does everything for you.

You get used to it, I suppose, after you've done so long in there,

and you come out and you're like,

"Whoa, actually I need to do this myself.

"How do I do this?"

Stuart left the army a year ago, medically discharged with PTSD.

The military is the only life he's ever known as an adult.

At the time, building up to getting discharged, I thought

all I needed to do was be away from the army and it would solve

all my problems, and then I got discharged

and it made them... It escalated.

It felt weird, it felt as if

this whole network that was helping us just evaporated,

and then it was just me.

I went the wrong path, shall we say,

substance abuse, alcohol abuse,

spiralled out of control.

I spent 30,000 in about four months.

Things got so bad, earlier this year Stuart was hospitalised to battle

his addictions. He's since moved to specialist veterans' accommodation.

But even with support, he remains apprehensive about what lies ahead.

Lennox is my best mate.

He's all I've got at the minute and I'm all he's got, really.

He's the best company I've got out here at the minute.

I won't know if I'll ever feel comfortable on civvy street

until I'm properly in work

and I've had a good couple of years in work and on civvy street.

A little nervous, because it's a new chapter, isn't it, in my life?

As new people were joining your platoon,

they would have started to learn from you, as a role model,

all that sort of stuff.

-I've never been seen as a role model before.

-Have you not?

-No!

I think you probably were -

role model/mentor maybe, if that's more comfortable for you.

Yeah, "mentor" sounds better.

-Finding out a lot about myself.

-HE CHUCKLES

She can go through my career in the military,

and what she can pick out and

actually translate into civilian-speak.

I've actually got quite a lot of key skills

where I didn't think I had any.

This little bit of information here,

-we've drawn out from your military experience.

-Yes, yes.

So what have we got, then?

My final recruit, Shaun Bellerby,

has been out of the Army for 15 years,

and throughout that time has struggled to find work.

-Have you found it useful?

-It's been really productive, yeah, been a really good day.

I think I've been setting my bar a little bit low.

I've been, you know, in a rut -

thinking painting, decorating, painting, decorating -

and not actually thinking what are the qualities

I've actually gained over the years, you know,

which I could use to my advantage to, you know, further my career.

It's good that you've had this boost

cos there are still things going to happen that knock you...

-Yeah.

-..but if you start with a solid platform,

and even if it's only baby steps,

we need to start making them,

so that you don't feel stuck in that rut where you are at the moment.

Yeah, definitely. That's where I've been for the last 15 years,

I've just hit a certain level

and never really seen past that level. You know?

-It's really been an eye-opener.

-Good.

I thought you said you were going to TRY and play(!)

Shaun lives in the same supported housing unit as Stuart.

It's very much like living in the military here,

it's like living back in the block.

It's erm...simple, and lifeless.

Tend to like... put things in places, you know,

and like, one of them, you know, is your typical example...

Wallet and passport as always stashed behind the door for some reason.

I think that's from the Army as well, like - just tucking things away.

A training accident in 2000

left Shaun with mental health issues and ended his Army career.

Back then there was little support for those who left service early.

He turned to painting and decorating to earn a living,

taking jobs across the country.

But his PTSD followed.

It's like my life just basically fell apart,

cos of all the issues I've actually had from the Army, you know -

lost my business, lost my house,

lost my girlfriend and whatnot.

Yeah. Everything...

Everything just turned into a bag of shit, basically.

Shaun now works voluntarily in the community.

Taking these jobs on, like,

it keeps my mind occupied, keeps ME occupied.

I'm not lazing around,

getting in a rut, you know, I'm keeping myself motivated.

Yeah, it is difficult being out of work, and it's demoralising.

Especially when you've got a skill

and you can't get a job to apply it, you know?

It's frustrating.

A job would actually bring us a lot of stability to my life.

Be a bit more money.

A lot of satisfaction. It gives us purpose, doesn't it?

It gives you a reason for getting up in the morning.

You feel like you've got a place in the world.

May I...?

'I'm just starting to understand my veterans' issues.

'But Andrew has worked with many ex-service personnel

'who have struggled to re-integrate once home.'

I'd love to know what YOU think the barriers to...

achieving a work place are.

To me it's just about joining the dots - on one side of the equation

there are hundreds of employers with thousands of jobs.

On the other side of the equation,

there are thousands of ex-military people LOOKING for jobs.

That SHOULD balance, but it's not balancing.

We spend a lot of time talking to employers about education and training,

and convincing THEM that an ex-military person

can add value and is perhaps not the risk

that they might perceive them to be.

We know that employers value ANY good person,

and are very willing to support ex-members of the armed forces -

it's the joining the dots in the middle that I think is

where we need to really focus attention.

Thank you, guys.

-Thanks a lot. Good luck.

-Thank you so much.

-Really lovely to meet you. We'll see you again.

-And you.

Maybe see you up Geordieland or something.

It just shows how important it is

that they get the right help

where they need it and when they need it.

-Good to meet you.

-Mate, that's perfect, yeah. Fantastic.

It's scary how good that is.

I'm under no illusions, there's a long way to go,

but I do finally feel I've got my foot on the path, at least.

'But if I'm going to get my recruits jobs,

'then I need to get an employer's perspective.

'Although there are thousands of unemployed veterans,

'a few businesses are actively trying to recruit them.

'Over the past 18 months, construction giant Skanska

'has had a recruitment drive, focusing ON veterans.'

How did this engagement with veterans come about?

Everybody's competing for a shrinking pool of talent,

good quality people become much harder to find.

So one of the things that we were thinking about is

what are the non-traditional sources of people

that might be open to us, that would have good skills

that we could use in our business?

And the military, because we knew it was going to be downsizing

as we were starting to recruit, seemed to be a good fit.

How did the HR department

learn to look beyond that obvious first glance at a CV?

Actually what we did is we used the ex-military people that we already have, to help us,

because actually if you think about it, it's obvious, isn't it -

the person who can help you decode it

are the people that you've already hired from that background,

so we work quite closely with them.

And it's actually looking at what the core skills

that are required for the role are,

and then having an open mind

in terms of where those skills might come from and how they might match.

'One veteran who's benefited from this company's proactive approach

'is Jamie, a former Royal Marine Commando with 22 years' full service.

'You'd think he'd have no trouble finding work.'

When I left Afghanistan,

I applied for 217 jobs in three months, and had no interviews.

-None?

-None. No interviews whatsoever.

I cannot imagine how frustrating and upsetting it must have been.

It was frustrating, it got to the point where

I was sitting in the car in the car park,

my e-mail went off on my phone, opened up the phone,

and again there was another three negative responses

and I just basically broke down in tears.

So why do you think your CV

was successful at this company

when it hadn't been successful anywhere else?

They see the benefits of a military person,

they see the benefits of leadership, command, discipline.

The fact is I have no technical skills - I'm a Royal Marine,

and my job was to stick bayonets in people. If I'm harsh.

They were happy that they would take me on and train me.

And also, I'm one of the lucky ones - you know, I'm not injured.

I have found myself a good career, you know.

And there is a difference -

if you asked me that question

and I WAS one of the injured guys or if I WAS suffering from a mental health problem,

perhaps my answer would have been different.

It has to be significant that Jamie came out

without any kind of injury, whether physical or mental,

and yet he still found it so hard to transition.

You can only imagine

the kind of trouble someone would have

with an obvious injury, or an invisible injury.

But just as we seem to be up and running,

the veteran I think is most civvy street-ready

is stopped in his tracks.

The operation Phil has been desperately waiting for

has been delayed.

I think the letdown of the operation has set me back,

and it might not seem very much,

and I know it happens to a lot of people, but, erm...

I find with my PTSD,

once you get let down,

it takes a lot out of you.

And it takes a lot to get that...

ambition back up and running again.

-'Hi.'

-Hello.

'How are you?'

Been through the mill a bit with this bloody operation.

I haven't done much with the CV at the moment.

'Why not?'

Erm... Haven't been in the right frame of mind, Alex.

It's been, erm... With the medication...

'A bit demotivated?'

Yeah. Need a kick up the arse.

'I'm here to provide it.'

-Yeah?

-'Yes. I have my kicking foot ready.'

Oh, brilliant! You can borrow one of mine if you want.

'My dad always says - because he's a writer -

'he says "If you don't get it right, just get it done

-'"and then you can fiddle with it."'

-Yes.

'Even if you're not in the mood,

'just make yourself for half an hour a day do this bloody CV.'

-Yeah.

-'Cos without that, where do we...

'You've got to give me the tools to help you.

-Yes, I will.

-'And that is a primary tool.'

Well, I'll make you a promise now -

-'OK.'

-You will have my CV within two weeks.

-'OK, good. That's really good.'

-OK?

I'm just looking through the box now

for some of my qualifications and stuff

so I can introduce them to my CVs.

On this one, it's got

"Recommended for troop recce sergeant or an instructor."

By doing this now,

it's getting me off my backside and...

and doing something about it.

Brave words - but it is yet another setback.

I've asked all the guys to write up their CVs.

It's a complete first for some,

and I'm concerned that their confidence can be easily dented.

Right, this is the stuff from London...

She picked out loads of key skills that I'd have -

"Willing to travel", I mean...

I wouldn't have thought about putting anything like that on a...

Just need to get a computer so I can get it wrote up.

Going to need help with that.

-'Hello...'

-Hi, Alex.

'How are you feeling?'

I'm good. Quite a high standard now with my CV, so

that's coming on really well.

So probably looking at employment and looking at...

going further up the career ladder into something like management.

'So, why don't you just spend the next couple of weeks

-'chasing down job prospects that there are...'

-Yeah.

'..so that we know that there's those kind of positions vacant.'

Yep, yep. No problem.

-'OK?'

-Yeah. Brilliant, I'll get to work on that straight away.

On my old CV,

it said "tank driver, tank gunner and tank loader".

But now it says "tank driver, gunner, British Army"

and the responsibilities I had and the achievements that I had.

So it's a massive improvement.

And now it's the first print-off.

Fingers crossed the printer works, actually!

It looks like it's off centre...

-No, it's right.

-HE CHUCKLES

Here we go.

Finally have a CV now.

Alex was talking about doing placements.

It would be good to get kind of back into the routine of work.

Yeah, I'm going to take these...

You know, I'm going to really use these placements, 110%.

Now my team is cracking on,

I'm widening my focus

in an attempt to have an impact on a whole city's worth of veterans,

and it really shouldn't be so hard.

Whether it's the schools you send your children to,

whether it's the health care that you can expect,

I want all of these things refreshed and renewed

and written down in a new military covenant.

In 2011, the Government made a pledge

to offer more support to the armed forces.

Two years on, they asked companies to join them

by signing up to the corporate covenant.

"The armed forces corporate covenant.

"We, the undersigned, commit to honour the armed forces covenant

"and support the armed forces community.

"We recognise the value serving personnel,

"both regular and reservist veterans

"and military families, contribute to our business and our country."

It's a way to encourage

the groundswell of support that there are

for serving military personnel and veterans,

which is completely right.

However, my feeling is

that is doesn't really sign me up to anything.

This is not me bashing the MoD,

or in fact the businesses that sign up to this.

I think there's an enor... You know, people want to do what is right.

It is just that it is so kind of woolly and amorphous...

There's no accountability, there's no policing of it -

I might as well walk around with a T-shirt saying,

"I love the armed forces",

It's not really worth the piece of paper I'm signing

because it's got no teeth to it.

As I understand it, although every council in the country

has signed up to the armed forces covenant,

only in Lee's home city of Plymouth

has the council created a dedicated group

involving local businesses.

It's called the corporate covenant group,

and they've agreed to work with me

to create a plan for how all unemployed veterans here

can find jobs in the area.

We're currently looking at launching our work experience programme,

which is aimed at the defence sector predominately...

If it works here, it could work elsewhere too.

There are lots of companies that we are aware of,

if you look on the MoD website,

-who have signed the covenant at a national level.

-Yeah.

And for us, what we're interested in is

how does that translate at local level?

It can be quite easy to sign a piece of paper,

but actually to make that work,

you have to have those dedicated people

right there in your own communities.

I think you've got to put

some commitment into it and have some background

rather than just pledging to it,

which is not necessarily that good,

you have to...to an extent

prove that you're involved in it and going to make some difference.

I'm taking a very pragmatic approach, which is ultimately probably

companies will only stay involved when...

as and when they see the benefits to them, as well.

To be brutally honest, one of the main reasons for us

is because recruitment's really important.

Yes, well, I love that.

That's why I came to the table, thinking, well,

maybe this is a good way to deal with the recruitment crisis.

Mm. And the more people who do it,

the more you can show examples of where it's worked,

which gives people more confidence to think

actually, this IS really worth doing.

The difficulty we would always find,

again, is finding these people. Just knowing that they exist.

I'm dealing with someone who's been out of the services for six years,

and has sent out 200 job applications

and has only got to interview stage twice.

So that's quite debilitating and quite demoralising.

What I'm trying to get for him is a placement -

no job guarantee at the end of it,

I'm just trying to get him back into doing something.

What we're looking at doing is basically getting him back in the game.

Just any... Just back in the game.

Yeah.

-That's all I'm...

-Well, we're in.

-OK.

That's really, really helpful.

Have you got a card? Can I e-mail you...?

'I've got no idea'

why Plymouth is the only council with this kind of group,

it's clearly needed, for this whole idea to work.

Unless there IS someone coordinating and holding companies to account,

then I wouldn't be surprised if nothing's happening at all.

Bit more detail about some of the stuff.

-Great!

-But it's only a copy for you, cos no-one else has seen it yet.

-I promise I'll be good.

-Thank you.

The group all seem very well intentioned,

and certainly quite passionate and very articulate

about the issues and problems.

I have no idea how much of that is translatable

into cold, hard jobs.

I'm happy I might have an opening for Lee,

though it's not a little ironic

that all this time he's been just down the road,

desperate for work.

I've got my notepad and pen -

all good squaddies always have a pen and a notepad.

It's a very big day for me.

First day back into a job environment, or a workplace.

I'll probably get nervous and a bit apprehensive when I get there,

but I won't show that. I'm too professional for that.

He's been offered something that's a real opportunity for him

and I think it's incredibly important -

he's been out of significant employment for so long,

that he needs to get some routine back into his life,

he needs to learn how to interact with colleagues.

And more than anything else,

he needs to get his confidence back.

It is a bit like the first day in the Army.

You know, getting all your new shiny stuff and...

your free clothes that you get in the Army.

There. Ready to rock and roll. Take on the world.

Lee's joining the 40-strong team that maintains Plymouth's highways.

-I'll go in the middle, it's your truck.

-Yeah.

His supervisor Andy was also in the forces,

and like Lee, found transition tough.

My biggest problem for me was

when you come to leave the Army, you don't know what's out there,

you don't know what type of jobs there are.

You know, we've been mollycoddled in the Army by

getting told what to do. You come out and you've got to start thinking for yourself.

As part of the team, Lee's job is to clean up to 120 gullies a day.

Yeah, so I've shown you the first gully,

if you want to go ahead and try it for yourself.

It's not glamorous,

but Lee operated heavy machinery in the military,

so this should be a good fit.

Is it weird that I'm enjoying this - cleaning up drains?

I'm getting on all right today, it's nice to be in a routine again.

Sort of work I like doing, it's physical.

Outdoors... Perfect.

Perfect job.

And being part of a team again, that's what I've enjoyed here.

But on day three of Lee's placement, he doesn't show up.

Hi, Lee, it's Paul Anderson of Amey's. How are you doing?

INDISTINCT REPLY OVER PHONE

Right, OK. Well, I won't pry,

cos it's none of my business.

Ten days... Right. OK.

OK, Lee. All right.

Cheers. All the best.

Bye.

Hmm.

What Lee's saying to me

is that he's got some "stuff" to square away -

I'm not going to pry into whatever that is,

that's entirely his business and that wouldn't be right.

It really does raise questions in my mind -

I just cannot run a business that you roll up...

It's not a pick and mix.

So hopefully, Lee can get squared away whatever he needs to.

Let's take it at his word and...hope we get going again.

Ten days later, and Lee has thrown in the towel altogether.

My head's just...gone.

So yeah, my PTSD's come back with a bit of a vengeance lately.

Not sleeping. Erm...

All these intrusive thoughts...

Just struggling.

Just...so lonely at the moment.

Really alone.

Just wake up and it's there - go to sleep, it's there,

Just doesn't go.

I thought it was all sorted, but...

-HE SIGHS

-..yeah, it's not.

Lost.

Really lost.

I am feeling pretty frustrated at the moment,

and I'm not quite sure how to deal with it. I just feel that

first of all, some of the guys

have been less than completely honest with me, I feel,

about where they are, at what stage they are

in their ability to cope with work.

That suggests to me that I've put the cart before the horse,

and possibly the very first thing I should have done

is discover more about

the underlying issue that they have

which is post-traumatic stress disorder.

I'm cross with myself,

and I've just got to reboot how I'm dealing with this.

I don't mean sympathy - cos I think sympathy is a waste of time.

I mean...

practical, incremental steps.

One of the first things I need to do

is get to the bottom of what happened at Lee's placement.

I was scared to leave the flat.

And I haven't been like that for years.

About two or three days after,

it all kind of fell apart again.

I was sat in the front room

and I just thought, sod it, I'm going to go do it,

I'm going to go jump off the bridge.

I'd just had enough.

You've got to be honest with me about what you can and can't do.

Why didn't you talk to Paul about what it really was?

You kind of used lots of euphemisms...

I didn't go into detail about it

because I don't think he...

Well, he didn't really ASK the details.

I just think honesty with an employer

is kind of quite key about...

You don't want someone thinking that you're unreliable or flaky...

-No.

-..or that you just drop everything.

I need to find out if there's a more effective way

of dealing with this - I think that's the best help I can give you at the moment.

-Cos we've got to get you over this hump, haven't we?

-Yeah.

Before we talk about anything else.

I don't think I've underestimated the effects of PTSD -

I think I've underestimated how deeply ingrained it is.

And also, I don't know enough about the symptoms and the effects.

Is it even appropriate to be putting these guys into employment,

even though they say they WANT it, when they have PTSD -

I mean, will it aid their recovery or will it hinder their recovery?

'I've come to King's College London to find out.

'Professor Neil Greenberg served over 23 years in the armed forces,

'and was deployed as a psychiatrist to Iraq and Afghanistan,

'so has seen first hand the effects of the illness.'

Can you give me some idea about the symptoms of PTSD?

The first of them are called re-experiencing symptoms.

So these are where people can't stop thinking about

the incident, or incidents -

they have nightmares, they may have

what are called flashbacks,

so actually seeing, feeling and hearing

as if you're back in the incident.

The next set of symptoms are called avoidance symptoms,

and so these mean that basically you don't want to talk about it,

you don't want to go near anything that might remind you of it.

The third set of symptoms are called arousal symptoms,

and they involve poor sleep, irritability, poor concentration,

and the very last group of symptoms

are alterations in mood and cognitions.

So you may feel very guilty

that you didn't do the right thing.

You may think something bad is always about to happen or feel emotionally numb.

For some people, the symptoms get better,

but they don't completely go away,

and then you're down to kind of chronic disease management.

I think it's fairly evident

that mental illness is still stigmatised in the wider population.

Do you think someone who's suffering from PTSD

should disclose it to an employer?

I think it's what's called a bit of a wicked problem

because obviously there's pros and cons -

if you declare it, they may not give you the contract.

So I think there is this difficult balance between

wanting to be honest, but at the same time recognising that

even the best employers may treat you differently.

There's someone I've been working with

who's been out of the Army for six years

and has never been able to hold down a job in that time,

and whose PTSD has become again incredibly severe.

And, erm...I'm wondering what is best practice -

I mean, what is the best way

to try and help him or support him through it?

Well, there's a bit of a chicken and egg piece here,

so the question is do you try and get someone

almost perfectly well before you start working?

-Mm.

-Or do you try and get them into work,

accepting that it's going to be challenging at first,

but that actually being in work with the routine and social contact

and self-esteem from doing well helps someone recover?

The evidence points towards, get them in work as soon as you can.

If you see their problems as a barrier,

well, OK - that exists, well done, you're getting treatment, you carry on with that,

what do we do to make that not impact so much at work?

What you really need is a good platoon sergeant or mentor

or company sergeant-major say,

"OK, the first wall's coming up now -

"how are we going to get you over that wall?"

You could perhaps help them try and find a way through,

or maybe even broker an understanding with their potential employer.

I do feel really reassured by Professor Greenberg

that actually one of the best ways of dealing with PTSD

is getting people into employment.

I think I still have to think about a long-term goal,

but maybe I just have to be a bit clearer

about the steps I need to take in between to achieve it.

Maybe I haven't messed this up

quite as badly as I thought I might have done.

I'm feeling reassured about how I'm tackling this issue.

And I've other good news. In Saltburn, Phil is at last

about to have the final operation he hopes will be life-changing.

It's amazing with amputees -

cos I'm going into hospital now,

-that's all I need, is one sock!

-HE LAUGHS

Excited.

Erm...

The operation means so much to me.

I know there's a light at the end of the tunnel,

and I know that, erm...

I've got a future. I can find employment now.

It's going to be an ambition now, and

it's like the bit between the teeth.

I'm the sort of person that wants to carry it on now and...

and hopefully a job'll come at the end of it.

-Do you need your cushion, Phil?

-No.

-What about the leg rests?

-They're underneath there.

OK.

-Are you driving?

-Yeah.

-Yeah? Sure?

Feeling anxious.

It's quite nervous.

Especially when he goes down for anaesthetic, I don't like that.

-Bye!

-Bye.

Good luck.

Selling yourself in the civilian job market can be a huge challenge.

Many veterans have only ever had ONE job interview, when they joined up.

For Stuart, that was 14 years ago -

now he's been offered an interview for a construction apprenticeship.

It's next week, and I want to give him

the best possible chance of landing it.

I've brought this group to London to do some interview training.

It may not be at the right time for every member of this group,

but they all need interview training, so this will not be wasted.

We are visiting Barclays' HQ in Canary Wharf.

The company has invested £3.5 million

in a programme to ready veterans for employment,

and I've asked them to help teach the group how to sell themselves.

A few weeks ago, Stuart had never written a CV,

and the last and only time he had an interview,

he was just 16 years old.

Welcome. Thanks for coming in.

Right. Ask a few questions. First one off -

what do you consider your key achievements,

of what are you most proud?

Boxing. For my regiment, I did a lot of sparring training,

teamwork,

and then building up to a fight and then having a fight.

Any way you sort of motivated the rest of the guys -

did you sort of take the lead in training or sparring...?

With me being the captain, I had a bit of responsibility

to make sure everyone was there on time and ready to go.

Cool. Great. Thank you very much.

One of the last things that he said

was he was the team captain.

Up until that point, it was about

focus, drive, determination,

and then at the back end of that question

it was all about leadership, management,

inspiration, motivation -

completely different skills

that you would have used as the team captain

to being a member of the team.

You can use that example

for your interview - practise it, nail it.

You'll do all right.

The main driving Barclays' scheme is Stuart Tootal,

a former Army colonel.

He believes a new approach is in everyone's interests.

It would be wrong to view the armed forces community

who leave the military looking for employment

as victims -

they're incredibly capable people.

But probably the majority of them need a degree of support

in making that transition.

In the military, if you go into an unfamiliar space

like the jungle, you're given the requisite training,

jungle warfare instructor, you'd go in with members of your team who you trust,

who've been in the jungle before

and you're taught the rules of, don't eat this, don't sit there, don't travel at night.

Leaving the military

is a little like going into the jungle

where none of that's in place.

The second challenge is

that there are lots of spots of good activity to support veterans -

there are other companies, there's a charity sector, the MoD have the Career Transition Partnership -

and what we really need to do

is to build and bring that existing landscape together

in a joined-up, systematic approach where we share best practice,

to then ultimately lead to a sustainable system going forward.

It's great for the veteran,

it's great for the companies that employ the veterans,

and of course this makes absolute sense

to the state and the economy,

because the military spends billions of pounds

-training its people...

-Yes.

..and if we're not harnessing those skills,

then we are wasting a real opportunity to really -

especially when there's a wider skill shortage in the UK workforce -

to make a really value-add difference and contribution

to the British economy.

Gentlemen...!

-Hello, hello.

-Hello.

-How's it gone?

Useful?

Yeah, very useful.

What about you, oh, silent one(?)

I enjoyed the sandwiches.

ALL LAUGH

-Was it useful?

-Yeah, I've found it really useful.

I've got a lot out of it today.

Good! You've got an interview coming up. Are you ready for that?

A lot more ready now after doing this.

I'm a bit more confident going to an interview now.

Good.

I mean, you know what is amazing to me,

is the more I find out,

the more I realise that there are an enormous amount of people

who are willing to give some kind of boost or a lift or helping hand,

and it's just a question of finding the right people

and accessing the right bit of it at the right time.

A week later, in Newcastle,

Stuart is preparing to enter the workplace jungle.

He's hoping to get a construction apprenticeship.

Been a while since I've put THIS shirt on.

I'm sweating now.

Today is a really big day for Stuart.

He has to shine in this interview,

and this COULD be the start of a new chapter for him.

Can hardly bend down in these jeans.

And if anyone needs a new chapter, it's Stuart.

Just six months ago he was in hospital,

battling addictions to drink and drugs.

Just having a quick last read-up on the course,

make sure I...

have a few questions.

I'm very nervous. He's put all his eggs into one basket,

he has no Plan B.

If he's accepted, it'll be a huge boost for him,

and if he's not, I think it'll really knock his confidence.

Your taxi's waiting.

STUART WHISTLES NONCHALANTLY

I would be disappointed if I didn't get it.

It will be life-changing - it's a career, it's a trade.

So I hope I DO get it.

All right? I'm here for an interview with Chris.

-Stuart.

-Yeah.

-Hiya. Chris Curry.

-All right?

-Nice to meet you. Like to come upstairs, please?

-'So that's my first interview done. Hopefully it's the last.'

-HE CHUCKLES

'I'm just waiting for the phone call.

'They said they'd ring about now, so...'

PHONE RINGS

Phone call!

Settle down.

Hello?

Yeah it's Stuart, yeah.

Right...

Yeah, I'm sound, aye.

Oh, nice one.

Bye.

Well, I got it.

I got it.

I got the job, like.

It is a start of a new chapter in my life.

I'm looking forward to it.

Going to be a brickie!

Like Oz off Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

These are great first steps,

but I'm under no illusion that there's a long way to go.

I'm hoping to help more veterans back into employment,

but as I learn about the challenges facing them,

it is ever more apparent just how difficult my task will be.

We still have lots and lots of veterans slipping through the net.

I'm not quite sure what the answer is,

but it is clear that there are

quite a lot of...

foundation bricks in place,

but they need to be built on

much better than we're doing at the moment.

I certainly WANT to,

the question is - how?

'In the concluding part of my journey...'

How many of us here can claim to be a veteran?

'..I try and help one city to make a difference.'

I'm determined to be effective in some way,

and I want to stop talking and start doing.

'I step up the fight...'

Each time I think we've succeeded somewhere,

there's been a step backward somewhere else.

It's a massive challenge, but

not trying to sort that out isn't really good enough.

'And my group of veterans try to make it on civvy street.'

I don't see it as I'm going for a job - this is my future now.

I'm really looking forward to the challenge. It'll be brilliant.

You don't seem particularly cheerful.

One of the hardest decisions I've ever done.

Going to war's easier.

Got a headache just thinking about it.