COMBAT STRESS

Registered charity 206002 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · Wikidata: Q5150677 · Wikipedia · also known as EX-SERVICES MENTAL WELFARE SOCIETY · also registered in Scotland as SC038828 (OSCR)

The Charity provides relief of need and advancement of health of veterans and others in the Armed Forces Network, which includes members of the British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (and regular reserves, volunteer reserves, and sponsored reserves of these bodies), and their families, dependents and support network, who have or have had mental health issues.

Objects

1.1 THE CHARITY’S CHARITABLE PURPOSES ARE, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC:1.1.1 THE RELIEF OF NEED AND ADVANCEMENT OF HEALTH OF PERSONS IN THE ARMED FORCES NETWORK WHO HAVE OR HAVE HAD MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, UP TO AND INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE AND SEVERE NEEDS THAT REQUIRE THE SUPPORT OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM OF MENTAL HEALTH SPECIALISTS, OR IN RELATION TO THEIR MENTAL HEALTH GENERALLY, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION):BY:A) EDUCATING THE PUBLIC, INCLUDING BY CARRYING OUT OR PARTICIPATING IN RESEARCH EXPLORING THE NEEDS OF TREATMENT-SEEKING VETERANS, PUBLISHING THE USEFUL RESULTS THROUGH REPORTS AND ARTICLES SO TO PROVIDE UP-TO-DATE UNDERSTANDING OF VETERANS MENTAL HEALTH;B) PROVIDING SPECIALIST SERVICES, INCLUDING CLINICAL SERVICES, BOTH IN PERSON, REMOTELY AND IN RESIDENTIAL SETTINGS;C) PROVIDING ACCESSIBLE QUALITY EVIDENCE-BASED HELP AND ADVICE FOR VETERANS, THEIR FAMILIES, EMPLOYERS AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS THAT SUPPORT VETERANS;D) OPERATING A CLINICAL PATHWAY FOR BENEFICIARIES, CONNECTING THOSE IN NEED OF TREATMENT WITH APPROPRIATE SUPPORT FROM PROFESSIONALS SUCH AS NURSES, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS, AND MENTAL HEALTH SPECIALISTS;E) PROVIDING TAILORED PROFESSIONAL AND PEER-TO PEER SUPPORT SUCH AS, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, TRAUMA-FOCUSED THERAPY, SUBSTANCE MISUSE INTERVENTION, AND GROUPS FOR COPING WITH PSTD AND MASTERING EMOTIONS. 1.2 ‘ARMED FORCES NETWORK’ MEANS: 1.2.1 PERSONS WHO ARE CURRENTLY SERVING OR WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES; 1.2.2 THE FAMILIES AND DEPENDANTS OF, AND PEOPLE WITH CARING RESPONSIBILITIES FOR, THE PERSONS LISTED IN ARTICLE 1.2.1; AND 1.2.3 PERSONS WHO ARE EMPLOYED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM IN A ROLE WHICH INVOLVES PROTECTING THE UNITED KINGDOM'S NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS AND HAS A CONNECTION TO THE ARMED FORCES.1.3 ‘ARMED FORCES’ MEANS THE BRITISH ARMY, ROYAL NAVY, ROYAL AIR FORCE AND THE ROYAL FLEET AUXILIARY (AND REGULAR RESERVES, VOLUNTEER RESERVES, AND SPONSORED RESERVES OF THESE BODIES).NOTHING IN THIS CONSTITUTION SHALL AUTHORISE AN APPLICATION OF THE PROPERTY OF THE CIO FOR THE PURPOSES WHICH ARE NOT CHARITABLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH [SECTION 7 OF THE CHARITIES AND TRUSTEE INVESTMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 2005] AND [SECTION 2 OF THE CHARITIES ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 2008]].

Area of benefit: NATIONAL

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Mole Valley, South East, England (from the postcode on the register)

Financial health, per its FY2026 accounts

The accounts state that total income increased to £14.3m while total expenditure decreased to £13.8m, resulting in a net increase in funds of £1.2m. The charity holds £13.3m in investments, with £10.8m designated as general reserves, which the trustees confirm represents 10.5 months of budgeted unrestricted expenditure. The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis with no material uncertainties identified.

Automated summary of the FY2026 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by Moore Kingston Smith LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

In its annual return the charity told the Commission it is also regulated by: Care Quality Commission. This is the charity’s own declaration; it is not a rating and has not been verified by the Commission or by this site.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

• Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
• Complaints handling
• Complaints policy and procedures
• Conflicting interests
• Financial reserves policy and procedures
• Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
• Internal risk management policy and procedures
• Investing charity funds policy and procedures
• Investment
• Paying staff
• Risk management
• Safeguarding policy and procedures
• Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
• Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
• Social media policy and procedures
• Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
• Trustee expenses policy and procedures
• Volunteer management

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

• Cardiologist Warns Of Implications Of Combat Stress On Soldiers nannews.ng · 07/10/2026
• Combat Stress With a Closetful of Zen wsj.com · 07/10/2026
• The Air Force Is Teaching Airmen a 60-Second Technique to Help Wingmen Under Combat Stress military.com · 05/10/2026
• Combat Stress Learning webinar: What we might be missing - Culture, insights and decision-making in the armed forces charity sector (17 November) - Cobseo cobseo.org.uk · 21/09/2026
• Combat Stress sets out new strategy to tackle delays in veterans seeking mental health support pathfinderinternational.co.uk · 21/09/2026
• Combat Stress launches new strategy to shape the future of veterans’ mental health support cobseo.org.uk · 17/09/2026
• Combat Stress builds new memorial for veterans at National Memorial Arboretum inyourarea.co.uk · 04/09/2026
• Combat Stress to unveil a new National Memorial honouring veterans living with military trauma - Cobseo cobseo.org.uk · 02/09/2026

Corporate structure

• Registered company of the charity Companies House 00256353 · Financial health read from its filings
• Trading subsidiary: COMBAT STRESS TRADING LIMITED Companies House 07839816

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Combat Stress (matched by registered charity number).

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

• WINSTANLEY, Palmer — director, appointed 04/06/2026on trustee list
• STURT-SCOBIE, Alysoun — director, appointed 20/11/2025on trustee list
• LATHAM, Andrew — director, appointed 01/09/2025on trustee list
• FRASER-HOPEWELL, Peter — director, appointed 01/09/2025on trustee list
• RUSSELL, Gillian — director, appointed 27/11/2024on trustee list
• MAYBURY, Florence — director, appointed 27/11/2024on trustee list
• KAPUR, Neeraj — director, appointed 13/10/2022on trustee list
• EVANS, Rorie Charles Edward — director, appointed 15/12/2021on trustee list
• MCCUE, Jane Louise, Dr — director, appointed 16/10/2019on trustee list
• ALLAN, Carole Ann, Dr — director, appointed 16/10/2019on trustee list
• OSBORNE, George Edward — director, appointed 16/10/2019on trustee list
• CAMPBELL, Douglas Ian — director, appointed 16/10/2019on trustee list
• DOWNIE, Iain — secretary, appointed 01/09/2025

Official officers record.

Public-sector contracts awarded

From the official Contracts Finder and Find a Tender notices (supplier matched by exact registered name). Contract income is distinct from grants.

CQC provider record: Combat Stress — Registered, 3 registered locations, 1 regulated activity, last inspected 09/07/2019.charity number confirmed by CQC CQC record

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2026)

Reported reserves equal ~9.4 months of spending — above the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 23.1% of total income — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 3.7%) (benchmarks).

Care Quality Commission ratings

CQC inspection ratings for services run by a provider matching this charity’s name (matched by name; verify provider identity on CQC’s site).

• Tyrwhitt House: Good (12/10/2016) · CQC record

Register events

• Received assets from another charity (12/02/2025) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (06/12/2024) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (23/08/2022) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (20/06/2022) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (27/10/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
• Received assets from another charity (22/07/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.

Trustees · trustee networks

• George Osbornechair
• Alysoun Sturt-Scobie
• Andrew Latham
• Douglas Campbell
• Dr Carole Allan
• Florence Maybury
• Gillian Russell
• Jane McCue
• NEERAJ KAPUR
• Palmer Winstanley
• Peter Fraser-Hopewell
• Rorie Evans · trustee of 1 other charity

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with CARE FOR VETERANS.

• CARE FOR VETERANS income £5.9m
• CARE AFTER COMBAT income £973k
• VETERANS AID income £2.2m
• VETERANS OF WAR income £10k
• FORCES IN MIND TRUST income £241k
• STEPWAY income £159k

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.