Just sometimes Frost Magazine hears of an amazing endeavour and the PentUp Foundation’s Modern Pentathlon is certainly that. Mark you, it took a great deal of hard work and foresight, not to mention extraordinary participants, but on Sunday 14th October, at the Military Academy Sandhurst, it was clear that PentUp had created something grand.
I was lucky enough to be am cheering on my son at the Modern Pentathlon, alongside many others all willing on the participants, and the idea. It was an inspirational day, the culmination of careful planning by the organisers, and hard work, training and focus by the competitors. These competitors were all ages and abilities, including some who were continuing their recovery from PTSD – supported by private individuals, clinicians, Olympians and serving military personnel throughout the training and event.
Frost Magazine hopes that it will be repeated year on year.
The PentUp Foundation is a recently-founded Community Interest Company (CIC) with an ambition to raise as much money as possible to facilitate the national and regional treatment of PTSD through individual giving, sponsorship, major donors and legacies. PentUp uses the sport of Modern Pentathlon as a means of sports therapy to support the recovery of military veterans who have completed clinical treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Image courtesy of Leo Wilkinson
RECOVERY THROUGH SPORT…
Evidence based research has shown that the process of training and preparing for a competitive multi discipline sport, can form an essential part of therapeutic treatment and rehabilitation for sufferers of PTSD. The foundation was set up specifically to support a Modern Pentathlon event at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 14 October 2017, with a view to it becoming an annual competitive event.
Dr Simon Thompson, Psychiatrist at Combat Stress; “This adapted modern pentathlon event works in treating PTSD veterans because it utilises the psychological skills gained through intensive trauma focused cognitive behavioural therapy and the grounding and mood emotional regulation techniques developed in the clinical treatment programmes”. This is the first time that a multi discipline sport has been used as a form of recovery.
Image courtesy of Gavin Booth
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Over 75,000 veterans from armed conflicts of the last 25 years are afflicted by trauma, and in 2015/16 Combat Stress’ 24 hour phone line was contacted 9,500 times, with 2,500 referrals for therapy. The scale of suffering is unprecedented and growing with over 200 traumatised ex-service personnel a month coming forward to ask for help.
Image courtesy of Leo Wilkinson
Each annual cycle sees up to 40 veterans, clinicians and supporters take part in a training programme to prepare them from novice to competitor in a 6-month period between March and October. The cycle culminates in a PentUp Pentathlon competition run by GB Modern Pent specific for this group of competitors.
Image courtesy of Leo Wilkinson
Having given their all, competitors and supporters togged up into best bib and tucker for PentUp Foundation Ball and Prizegiving – a fitting celebration of a great debut for PentUp’s Modern Pentathlon .
You can still donate at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/pentupfoundation
Leo Wilkinson: www.leothephotographer.co.uk