Civvy Life – Neil Spears
Neil joined the Royal Engineers in 1980 and spent the next five years with 35 Engineer Regiment as a Physical Training Instructor, before leaving in 1986. He now works in the housing sector for Trident Group.
How was resettlement?
In all honesty, back then, it was pretty poor. I wasn’t offered any training or anything like that. I just went out to civvy street and got myself a job. So, from that point of view, resettlement was quite disappointing.
How did you come to the decision to leave the Forces?
I missed home. I was very young when I joined. I found the first couple of years difficult and I never seemed to settle in. I just wanted to come back to my roots, in the Midlands. I had a girlfriend at the time and all those kind of things came together. So, I decided to knock it on the head.
I gave 12 months’ notice, so there was plenty of time to plan, but there was just nothing available to Service-leavers at that time. It was just release and ‘Off you go’ basically. I was picked up on the day by my parents and taken home and got a job and that was it.
How did you come to work with Trident Group?
The opportunity came up at Trident Group and I joined as an antisocial behaviour officer.
When I left the Army in 1986, I had various jobs. Basically, it was applying all the experience I’d gained over the years since then, as a prison officer, and as an education welfare officer. It was dealing with incidents of antisocial behaviour involving our tenants. So, I would go in and investigate and then I’d take action, unless it was something that could be sorted out fairly quickly without action being taken. It involved going to court, giving evidence and subsequently issuing eviction notices and things like that. Trident was very supportive of me; I hadn’t done it before and they gave me a good induction package and plenty of training. Seven years later I’m now in a different role. I do community safety and engagement which involves talking to customers, talking to tenants, finding out if there are any problems and trying to solve them.
The prison officer role and the antisocial behaviour role look to be classic ‘Service-leaver roles’ but there’s probably more to it than just being tough…
There’s a lot of sitting and listening, being empathetic, while not being scared of confrontation and being a problem-solver.
What are your current duties at Trident Group?
I visit schemes and properties where we have tenants, to assess their needs and listen to any concerns or problems and how we can resolve those to enable them to lead a good life within the community that they live in.
What Military acquired skills or attributes do you find yourself using most in your role?
Being a good negotiator. Being a good listener. Being a good problem-solver and not being scared of confrontation.
When you meet somebody in their own home, it’s a very, very emotional experience for them. I see my job as making that visit as positive as possible. Whether I’m going in for a negative reason or for a positive reason, I still try and build empathy with the tenant and get to know them, and deal with them as sympathetically as I possibly can.
What do you most appreciate in your role now, that you couldn’t get in the Army?
Being able to go home every night and be with my family. When I came out of the Army, there was relief; going home and being supported by my family.
Trident Group is very supportive as well. I work in a small hub with three or four people and we listen to each other and we support each other – from both a professional and a personal point of view.
Trident Group consists of a social housing association and there’s also a support service that provides support to vulnerable people. Our ethos is to provide a decent home to the most vulnerable in society.
That seems to align with your values…
It’s certainly an important part of it; to support the most vulnerable in society and provide them with a decent home for them to be able to thrive and lead a decent life. That’s certainly a driver for me.
Did you ever regret leaving the Army?
I have had regrets about leaving the Forces. The Forces was fantastic; it was like being part of a family.
I had a great time, I did a lot of sport, played football and loads of competitions for cross country. I did think about going back in at one stage, but I just carried on with my work and other things happened.
When I was in the prison service, I met a lot of people that were ex-Service personnel. It seemed the natural progression to do that.
What’s your advice for current Service-leavers?
I would take all the information and all the help that was offered to me.
Try to get yourself some sort of qualification to be able to put yourself out there in the marketplace, to enable you to get the best job you possibly can. Trident Group is good for that; they provide training and good opportunities.
Basically, be prepared and take all the advice and all the things that are on offer to you.
