Our hearts are heavy today as we learn of the tragic loss of Sergeant Alex Cairnie, 30, of the Queen’s Royal Hussars, who was sadly found dead on Tuesday evening following an extensive search operation. Alex was last seen leaving Tidworth Camp on Sunday, 6 July, prompting an urgent search that saw hundreds of soldiers, police officers, and volunteers working tirelessly together in the hope of finding him safely.
The proximity of this tragedy to our Veterans in Action (VIA) centre serves as a stark reminder of the critical importance of building stronger relationships between military units and charitable organisations that can provide complementary support to serving personnel.
The military provides excellent mental health care through the Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH), which offers comprehensive outpatient mental health care to serving personnel. These services are staffed by qualified psychiatrists, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists, and mental health social workers who understand the unique challenges faced by military personnel.
However, one of the greatest challenges for any serving person is taking that first step to ask for help. The military environment, whilst fostering strength and resilience, can sometimes create a culture where seeking support may be perceived as weakness or could potentially impact career progression. This cultural barrier, rather than any lack of available services, often prevents personnel from accessing the excellent care that is available to them.
Veterans in Action is situated close to the Tidworth and Bulford Garrisons, which also include Perham Down, and a few miles away we are also close to Middle Wallop. Our proximity to these military communities places us in a unique position to offer complementary support that works alongside existing military mental health services.
We have already worked successfully with serving personnel who are simultaneously receiving support through DCMH. This collaborative approach demonstrates that charitable organisations like VIA can provide additional layers of support without replacing or undermining the excellent professional care already available through military channels.
We have been fortunate to establish excellent relationships with military units in the past, working closely with dedicated personnel who understand the value of community partnerships. However, the natural cycle of military postings means that maintaining these connections requires ongoing effort and formal structures to ensure continuity of awareness about available support services.
We believe that all garrisons throughout the military should establish formal connections with local charitable services. This is not about replacing existing military support structures, but rather about creating a comprehensive network of care that ensures sustained awareness of all available resources for both current and future personnel.
At Veterans in Action, we understand that the transition from military to civilian life can be extraordinarily challenging, but we also recognise that serving personnel may benefit from our approach whilst still in service. Our focus on Post Traumatic Growth rather than dwelling on Post Traumatic Stress provides what many military personnel need: a sense of belonging, purpose, and connection with others who truly understand their experiences.
Our programmes offer:
As one participant shared: “I was suffering badly and never believed I would make anything of my life again… I discovered VIA in Feb 2020 and got involved in building the vehicles and I was given a true sense of belonging again… VIA is a post-traumatic growth charity and since being here I’ve certainly done that; I’ve grown and can happily say that I am now back in full-time employment with a family and a future!”
Research consistently shows that early intervention and accessible support services are crucial in preventing mental health crises. The importance of social connectedness cannot be overstated, with studies demonstrating that social group maintenance and social support predict better mental health outcomes through the psychological resources they provide – meaning, self-esteem, and a sense of personal control.
This is precisely what VIA provides through our community-based approach, working in harmony with existing military support structures to create a comprehensive safety net for those who serve.
Alex Cairnie’s death represents a profound loss – not just to his family and friends, but to the entire military community. While we cannot change this tragic outcome, we can honour his memory by ensuring that serving personnel know about all the support available to them, both within military structures and through complementary charitable organisations.
We believe that every military unit should establish formal, sustainable connections with local charitable organisations like Veterans in Action. Our centre, located just three miles from major garrison areas, represents an accessible, understanding, and non-judgmental environment where military personnel can find additional support and genuine connection with others who understand their experiences.
The military community has shown incredible strength in coming together to search for Alex. Now, we must channel that same collective spirit into ensuring that serving personnel have access to a comprehensive network of support that includes both excellent military mental health services and complementary charitable support.
As we reflect on this tragedy, we must remember that supporting our military community is everybody’s responsibility. Every person lost represents not just a statistic, but a life that mattered, dreams unfulfilled, and family and friends left behind.
To every serving member of the military community: you are not alone. Your struggles are understood, your service is valued, and support is available through multiple channels. The DCMH provides excellent professional mental health care, and organisations like Veterans in Action stand ready to provide complementary support, not as patients or cases, but as fellow members of the military family who understand the unique challenges you face.
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out. Speak to your welfare officer, contact the DCMH, or reach out to Veterans in Action. In an emergency, always call 999.
Let us honour Alex’s memory by ensuring that no other soldier suffers in silence, and that the comprehensive support our military community deserves is readily available and well-connected across all services.
Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Alex’s family, friends, and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time.
For support:
I needed focus I needed something to fill my time, well maybe not fill my time but something to focus on like a target, a needed to get back my drive.
I started to help VIA ‘Veterans In Action’ and found something that I could do, use the old skills that I learnt in the army and more since I left which I did not register I had.
I had been missing that motivation to do something that I wanted to do and gain that level of self-gratification and achievement.
Everybody has a skill set, but it’s the motivation to use it we can lose, VIA have various projects on the go all the time, hopefully I have found my niche to help them and myself to gain personal gratification by being a member of a team again and a job well done.
After discussions I realised that it’s this which advances my mental well-being and my ongoing fight against depression and the feeling of worthlessness.
I have woken up, helping hand in hand with fellow soldiers suffering from labelled disorders finding strength from weakness, realising what helps them generally does helps me, the recognition has been an awakening.”
Ian ‘Chalky’ White former 17th/21st Lancers and B Sqn 22 SAS
Veterans In Action have been filming our expeditions for many years for our YouTube Channel, Veterans Expeditions Overland, and through this experience of not only running the expeditions but also capturing footage that enables veterans who have taken part in a place of reference to recapture how they felt by taking part.
The Veterans In Focus project enables veterans to learn new skills and record not only the expeditions we run but also the day-to-day work on all projects connecting them all together so everyone feels involved in all aspects of the work we do.
VIA take a long-term approach to helping veterans who suffer to enable them to grow within a project working alongside their peers. All this can be achieved within this project which can be ongoing and would allow veterans to learn new skills or to pass on skills learned during their time in the services
Some of the outcomes of the project are a sense of purpose, regaining confidence and working in an environment alongside other veterans where they can instantly feel relaxed, chilled-out, secure, and safe.
Veterans can work at their own pace, stop thinking negatively, concentrate, learn new skills, be part of building something, and most importantly where problems are understood this will positively impact mood and stress levels.
For those involved in the project, they can also get involved on an expedition HERE
I became involved with VIA in 2010 after my life took a turn for the worse and was invited along to do some fundraising with them. This helped me no end and in time my life got back on track. I completed a Union Flag Walk with them from Cape Wrath to Land’s End which again helped as walking and talking with other veterans with similar stories was a great help in understanding how I was feeling. I gained control of my life again.
In 2019, I took part in an overland expedition travelling through the Spanish Pyrenees and whilst away my life took a turn for the worse again due to family problems back in the UK. On my return I had to start again and rebuild and focus on the future and with the help of Veterans In Action I got back on track and took control.
I now own and run my own courier business.
Mark Colman former Royal Engineers
To date, we have travelled 25,000 miles travelling through 30 different countries and some of them several times both on overland expeditions for humanitarian aid through the pandemic and more recently supplying medical humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
It is important to note that to take part in one of our overland expeditions we insist that veterans get involved in the BUILD IT part of the project. The reason for this is part of the Post Traumatic Growth process which is our method for helping veterans so that veterans can grow within a team of their peers, learning new skills and relearning old skill sets that may have been forgotten after service.
Leading up to an expedition involves expedition training which will include off-road driving, navigation, camp setups, camp cooking and daily maintenance, something most veterans will understand from their time in the services.
It would be unfair for any individual to turn up on the day of an expedition who hadn’t previously been involved as everyone else would have been working together over a long period of time so due to the very nature of the mental health problems of those we take out on expedition turning up on day 1 for any individual could become very difficult to find where they fit in no matter how welcoming everyone was.
It is the involvement long-term on building the vehicles that enable veterans to grow that gets them to a place where they fully enjoy all aspects of the expedition experience starting from the minute that an overland expedition sets off.