Sunderland army veteran sets up counselling service after losing two comrades to suicide

Armed forces veteran Lyndon Brooks has established his own counselling service after tragically losing two of his fellow veterans to suicide.

Be Brave Counselling Community Interest Company (CIC) has been established to support fellow veterans and the wider public with their mental health.

Lyndon, 50, from Sunderland, served in the Royal Logistic Corps from 1991 to 1998 and took part in duty tours of Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland

He said: "I have always wanted to do something to make a real difference in people’s lives so when I found out that two fellow veterans had taken their own lives, I decided to get involved in counselling. “It was just before lockdown when I made the decision. I’d been a HGV driver for 30 years and I thought it would be nice to not only have my weekends off and lead a more ‘normal life’ but also do something that really helped people, so it just gave me the impetus to do it.”

Lyndon enrolled to study counselling at the University of Sunderland in 2020. Combining work with his studies, he graduated in the summer of 2023 and in November he set up Be Brave Counselling in partnership with fellow counsellor Danielle Hoggett.

He said: "We’re based at the Betsy Jenny Counselling Café in Sunderland, which has been a revelation for us.

"It’s right in the middle of Sunderland, making it easily accessible and it has private meeting rooms designed with activities such as counselling sessions in mind. It’s absolutely perfect.”

Sign up for our free newsletters now

After graduating from university, Lyndon joined the North East Business and Innovation Centre's Veterans RV programme.

Based in Sunderland, the programme was set up to help former armed forces personnel use their wide-ranging skills to start up their own businesses.

Lyndon was one of 17 people who took part in the programme and went on to set up their own business as a result. He said: “Having graduated from university, I felt confident in my ability to counsel, but I’d never ran a business before so the idea of setting one up was an alien concept, especially the legalities and financial side of starting up a social enterprise.” “Joining the Veterans RV programme however just made the whole process seamless. Anthony McDermott and Mark Walsh who delivered it were both veterans and social enterprise advisers who had set up their own businesses and everyone else on the programme was in the same boat, so it was just so beneficial.

"I can’t thank them all enough for their support.”

Anthony McDermott, BIC business adviser and Armed Forces Ambassador said: “It fills us with great pride to have supported Lyndon on his journey from coming up with his idea to turning it into a successful business creating a real positive impact on people’s lives. “Veterans RV was set up as a pilot programme to help former armed forces personnel channel their multi-faceted skills and genuine desire to help others into setting up their own businesses and Lyndon is a fantastic example of that. “He has used his skills and experience to fill a gap in the market for a service which is chronically needed and under-delivered and I have every confidence that he will go on to make a real success of it.”

The North East BIC’s social enterprise support in Sunderland aims to help develop the social economy within the city through the Wear Together Initiative, working with local residents and groups to start a social enterprise or co-operative and help the city’s social enterprises to develop and grow.

Cllr Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “We have some fantastic social enterprises in the city who do such valuable work. Be Brave Counselling is another example of this community first spirit and it’s great to see Lyndon’s business take off.

“It is such a worthwhile and vital service that he is providing and to see him being able to change and improve his own life through helping others in this way is terrific."

More information about the support available for prospective businesses can be found on the North Eat BIC website.