A South Essex military widow has won the national Celebrating Forces Families Inspirational Adult Family Member of the Year Award, for helping to prevent Veteran suicides.
Canewdon resident Claire Lilley, won the Headline 2024 Adult Award, for her efforts to develop a system to assist police in finding missing Armed Forces Veterans, who may be at risk of self-harm. The system, known as the “Forcer Protocol” is named after Claire’s late husband, Alan Forcer, a former soldier who sadly took his own life several years ago.
The new system, which is currently being trialled by Greater Manchester Police, is estimated to have already saved around 70 Veterans’ lives and is now due to be adopted by police forces nationwide, including Essex Police, in the course of this year.
Claire was presented with the accolade at a special awards evening in London, supported by her local MP and former Armed Forces Minister, Mark Francois. Claires’ campaign had previously drawn support from Veterans Minister, Johnny Mercer MP, and TV Presenter, Ross Kemp, who both attended an event at Westminster last November, chaired by Mark, to launch the Forcer Protocol trial.
Speaking about her achievement, Mark said:
“I am immensely proud of my constituent, Claire Lilley, who channelled her grief at the tragic loss of her husband Alan, into something extremely positive, which is now likely, over time, to save hundreds or even thousands of Veterans’ lives. This is a tremendous achievement - and I was honoured to be present to see Claire’s years of work suitably acknowledged in this way.”
