With the support of the NAAFI Fund grant, a group of service men and women from Devonport’s Personnel Support Group, (PSG) recently took part in a weekend retreat in North Cornwall.

The weekend introduced many to yoga and wellbeing practices such as meditation and cold-water emersion therapy, run by former Royal Marine, Rob Colley, who now has his own wellness business.

Organised by Chief Petty Officer Angie Cheal, the retreat came as a welcome break for the members of the group’s recovery pathway that looks after the Royal Navy’s wounded, injured and sick service personnel.

Angie commented: “I wanted to run a special retreat event for those with long term illness or mental health problems. I was inundated with applicants and hope to secure additional funding to run three more retreats, in addition to the six other recovery weeks that we have planned for this year. I’ve had some really very positive feedback from those who attended the retreat and I’m optimistic that we can run more and help those who need it.”

Rob commented: “Yoga and meditation really helped me to transition from the service and I was really keen to get involved.  Since qualifying as an instructor, I’ve wanted to help injured and sick service personnel, this was a fantastic opportunity to give something back.”