Vetlife receiving treble number of calls for financial support

A veterinary charity has revealed it received more than three times as many calls from vet professionals seeking financial help in 2022 than the previous year.

Vetlife officials have warned they are seeing “unprecedented” demand for all their services as they appealed for the profession to unite in support of their work.

The charity said it received 47 separate applications for financial support from veterinary professionals last year – an increase of 236% on the previous year’s 14 applications.

Of those, almost 80% (37 individual cases) received direct support from Vetlife, while others were directed to alternative potential sources of support.

Rule changes

The organisation’s rules were changed in the summer to enable veterinary nurses to seek monetary help, as well as becoming full members and trustees, for the first time.

Around one-third of all the applications received by the charity last year were from RVNs and an extra staff member has been recruited to process them.

But the charity’s president Graham Dick said that alone did not account for the surge of need.

He said: “There are a variety of reasons for the unprecedented demands we are facing.

“Some are an inevitable consequence of the current national economic backdrop and some specific to the particular stresses faced by veterinary services overall, as they seek to meet client expectations in a difficult financial and social environment.”

Range of support

Trustee James Russell said the organisation has also worked hard to highlight the range of support it is able to offer, and was “quite proud” of the increased awareness of its work among professionals.

As well as financial support, Vetlife runs a confidential 24-hour helpline and email system to provide emotional support, as well as a dedicated programme for people who are experiencing mental health challenges.

Calls to the helpline, which provides assistance for vets, nurses, students and non-clinical staff, were also up by 3.3% to 3,503 in 2022, while health support referrals rose by more than 15%.

Mr Russell, who also chairs Vetlife’s Helpline committee, stressed that people do not need to be members of the charity to receive help and revealed the service is seeing an increase in callers experiencing what he described as “acute crisis”.

‘Never a wasted call’

He said helpline volunteers were there to take calls from people regardless of their level of anxiety or distress, and appealed for anyone who is struggling to seek help before they reach crisis point. He added: “It’s never a wasted call if you call Vetlife.”

But the increasing demand for support means funding remains as much of a constant challenge for Vetlife as for other charities.

Dr Dick said: “While Vetlife will always be there to offer support to those in need, I also call on fellow professionals to do all they can to help maintain the necessary funding such support requires.

“Whether it be by joining as a Friend of Vetlife, by organising a fund-raising event or by simple charitable donation, every pound raised will help us to maintain the services that have already assisted so many of our colleagues and will continue to do so in the future.”

Ultramarathon

One vet who has taken up the challenge of fund-raising for Vetlife is Sergejs Markuls, who works at the Moorview Referrals practice in Cramlington, Northumberland and is now training to run in the Leeds Endure24 ultramarathon this summer.

Having only taken up trail running last year, he aims to run 100 miles on a course in the city’s Bramham Park in a 24-hour period.

Dr Markuls has set up an online fund-raising page via JustGiving, in which he praises Vetlife’s “incredible network in helping veterinary professionals in challenging situations”.

Donations can be made by visiting www.justgiving.com and searching for “Endure24 or bust”.

Charity friends

But, while work is continuing in an effort to develop new corporate partnerships, officials are particularly keen to encourage professionals to become friends of the charity at a cost of £4.20 per month.

Mr Russell said: “If everyone were to do that, it would hugely increase our scope.”

Anyone interested in becoming a friend of Vetlife can find out more via www.vetlife.org.uk/become-a-vetlife-member