England football legend teams up with Combat2Coffee to support veterans' mental health
An England football legend is teaming up with a social enterprise to bolster support for Armed Forces veterans.
Terry Butcher, the former Three Lions and Ipswich Town captain, is working with Combat2Coffee, a not-for-profit organisation that uses coffee as a way to encourage the conversation around mental health.
Mr Butcher has been a vocal supporter of veterans' mental health since the death of his son in 2017, who was diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after serving as a captain in Afghanistan.
Terry has previously supported Combat2Coffee at its veterans' breakfasts and will now be even more present to increase support for the Armed Forces community.
Terry said: "I feel very honoured and humbled. My son would have loved it if he was still here.
"There's a lot of veterans coming out now with mental and physical health troubles.
"They come crashing out of the military and there still isn't a lot of help there for them.
"Combat2Coffee is a great organisation because it introduces people to a brew which gets them talking to people. It puts you at ease as a veteran.
"There is hope, great hope – but we want to give them even more.
"I am doing this for my son, what he suffered and what we all went through as a family."
The organisation has also partnered with Ipswich Town Football Club to provide support for veterans.
They have served more than a quarter of a million cups of hot drinks in 2023, with each cup marked with the contact details of numerous veteran and mental health charities.
It also runs its own coffee shop and trains veterans to become baristas at its Ipswich barista academy.
Combat2Coffee was founded by Royal Anglian veteran Nigel Seaman in 2018, following his diagnosis of PTSD.
Nigel said: "All of us at Combat2Coffee are thrilled to welcome Terry to the team.
"He has been a huge supporter of ours since the very early days – and sadly knows all too well just how vital our mission is.
"Together we will not only look to change lives one sip at a time through our coffee but utilise his reach to influence positive change at a national level.
"I look forward to seeing just how much we can achieve together."
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