Veterans · Military Families · All who have suffered trauma

A world of words that heals

FLOW is a safe, open community where poems, stories, letters and lyrics help people process trauma, share their truth, and feel less alone — in honour of our late patron, Dame Vera Lynn.

Scottish Charitable Organisation · SC050666 · Don't worry about spelling — just write

20%

of people exposed to mass violence develop PTSD

8M+

adults diagnosed with PTSD in a given year

more likely — women are disproportionately affected by PTSD

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BATTLE

His voice cut the air like a sharp knife in the stuffy classroom that warm summer day in 1948. ‘Who can name me a famous battle?’ An arm shot up in the second row desk, the boy waving his hand for added effect. ‘Yes boy, what’s your name?’ commanded the teacher with...

THE VIRGIN PILOT

The first light of dawn had barely lit the sky over the airfield on that August morning when the orders to scramble broke the reveries, personal dreams and crafty cigarettes of the pilots stationed at the RAF base. 1940 had been a crucial year for the Royal Air Force...

P T S D

Remember too those Military Men With Memories buried deep Lifelong scars within their soul Interrupting them when they sleep The horros of the battlefireld The screams of wounded and the smell With destruction all around them These things they remember well Although...

Freddy Gilroy

Freddy Gilroy Scarborough We’re back in Yorkshire once again In Scarboough on a Winter’s day Where Ray Lonsdale has created another Statue To sit here on the Promenade on display The twice than lifelike subject this time Sitting here facing the Sea at North Bay...

Brothers in arms

Brothers in Arms It’s hard to interpret this image As we sit and sadly stare As though left by a Guardian Angel To remind all of us who care The thoughts of many Military men Of battles fought won or lost The smell the noise and the sadness Perhaps their colleagues...

Tommy

Artist Ray Lonsdale Tommy Imagine if you will the thoughts of this Soldier Sitting not far from Seaham’s shore Home once again on British soil Away from the horrors of War All this depicted by the Artist Of this moving image we see The setting here in loneliness...

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Commando Lochaber

Commando Lochaber Now here’s a subject that takes me back To times when I were a mere child Enduring life in W W 2 So this photo left me beguiled I remember the enemy Bombers As they flew nightly overhead And we were led to a shelter Instead of staying in our bed...

H M S Victory

H M S Victory Here we have the oldest ship in the British Navy The longest Vessel in the world to survive 246 years of Service to the Royal Nay Which was launched in 1765 H M S Victory was Flagship for Lord Nelson In the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 Armed with 104...

To Comrades at Christmas

It’s Christmas again; it’s wet and cold. A season of giving of history old. When most of us stay so warm and so dry, and memories fleeting of those who have died. Remembrance Day is far from us now. For most, it’s forgotten, vanished somehow. But veterans stand and...

Where have all the rabbits gone

Intro :- (The Company Admin staff that walked at lunchtime noted a lack of the usual Rabbits and wondered where they had gone. ) This was the answer submitted for the company news letter but for some reason not published. :- Where have all the rabbits gone Where have...

Lily

Lily For us a bad day, feeling so sad We lost our Pal called ‘’ LILY PAD ” Her Visits to the vets to no avail And in the end were proved to fail A terrible time it could make you cry Is She up there watching from the sky? The Mill lane road is not what it ought The...

BETHLEHEM

BETHLEHEM At an inconvenient time Mary travelled to Bethlehem And, on arrival, found no room – Only a stable in which to Stay. But the animals, used to Seeing birth, warmed the cold air with Their rhythmic breath, gave her hay to Lie on, their manger in which to Place...

The Model Manuscript Retribution. Part two

He opened the door to be confronted with the Manager of the hotel arguing with two very smartly dressed men. - One of them was carrying what looked like Nick's jacket. The very same jacket that Laura had wrapped the young girl in that afternoon's fracas. Nick observed...

Model Manuscript Retribution Part three

The body of Laura was to be returned to the UK. How would Nick face the Colonel with this devastating news of his beloved daughter? God help the killers! The funeral of course was held in Laura's home town in Scotland. Many of Nick's army friends attended the funeral,...

Grindal Wax

Charlie was a very quiet man who lived by himself in a little country bungalow. The bungalow where his Mother and Father had lived.....He'd been out of work for two years now, and was a very bored and lonely person. The only money he possessed was his tiny Army...

Return to Unit

10th July 1943. The aircraft flew unsteadily through the thickening sea mist. Flight Lieutenant Mike Peters struggled wearily to keep it straight and level. He was an old hand--a survivor of the Battle of Britain and now he needed all his skill to nurse this failing...

Perfect Innocence

When I was a child my mother told me it was imperative I always did what an adult told me to do, so I always obeyed. My actions now haunt me, engulfing everything in their path like a gigantic wave eating a tiny boat. Looking at my reflection within the mirror, I see...

Like a bad penny

“So, these DNA strands really do match?” I asked. “Yes, if we just fill in a few gaps, as usual.” “An exact match? Really? Yeah. Right” My research associate Daniel looked understandably jaded after a considerable stretch in the lab. He frowned. “Ian, I’m telling you,...

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"Through my own experiences in talking with the boys and girls about their thoughts on war and how they felt about going into action… through poetry they express themselves with absolute clarity, deep feeling and simplicity. I only have to read 'In Flanders Field' or Kipling's 'Tommy' to fully appreciate and be thankful for the beauty of FLOW. We must never forget them."

Dame Vera Lynn DBE — Our late patron, 1917–2020

Dame Vera Lynn, patron of FLOW for All