The Shropshire Star is today throwing its backing behind a not-for-profit organisation which aims to help service personnel and others affected by war find an outlet for their emotions through prose and poetry, writes Toby Neal.

Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide for All has been co-founded by Mac Macdonald from Telford, who was a soldier for 22 years.

It is based on the idea that, by writing down their thoughts and emotions, those who are in the forces, or have served in the forces, or their families and friends, can enjoy a therapeutic benefit and form of “self counselling” through getting things off their chest.

“People in the forces don’t want to be seen as ‘soft’ and don’t readily want to admit their emotions. But with this website they can either use their name, or not, as they wish, and say exactly how they feel in a safe environment,” said Mac.

And those who take advantage do not need to be a modern-day Wilfred Owen – the World War One poet from Shrewsbury who, in the minds of many, was the greatest war poet of all.

Although particularly aimed at serving servicemen and servicewomen, the site is open to all, and those using the outlet have included a senior Army officer (using a false name), rank-and-file troops who have seen action in the world’s hotspots, and even a woman who saw a television report which affected her deeply.

“We publish things ‘as is’. We don’t do a spell check or correct the grammar. That’s something the troops appreciate, because they know they don’t have to be good poets or write good English,” said Mac.

FLOW for All received a major boost when Dame Vera Lynn became its patron, and on November 1 the 91-year-old wartime singing legend launched “Voices of the Poppies”, an anthology of poems selected by members and visitors to the website. 

It is being sold for £8.99 with the cash being ploughed back into the organisation, which will help its drive to become a registered charity.

To become a charity, FLOW for All must prove a minimum annual income of £5,000. One key way of doing this is to find businesses and enterprises which, for a minimum payment of £250, will be given a web page on the website, through which they can advertise and also have a visible show of support for the cause.

Mac says that while FLOW for All needs the financial support of businesses to raise enough to become a registered charity, many businesses will only give their support to registered charities.

“It’s a Catch 22,” he said.

Glasgow-born Mac (his real name is Peter, but even his family call him Mac) is 50, and lives at The Rock.

He joined the RAOC in 1978 and his last tour was at Donnington, from where he left the service in 2000 with the rank of Sergeant Major, having served around the world, including in Northern Ireland.

He is now a training consultant, working part time to allow himself as much time as he can to FLOW for All.

The original idea came years ago when a woman who had lost a close friend in the military, knowing about his knowledge of websites, asked him how she could get some poems posted on a website.

“She found release by writing poetry, and thought it would be a good idea to let other people do that too.”

That led to the creation of a website called Forces Poetry.

“The therapeutic value people got from it took us by surprise,” said Mac.

Not everyone expresses themselves in poetry, and a natural development was a Forces Stories website.

The creation of FLOW for All has brought everything together under one umbrella, and acts as a “front of house” for four websites – FLOW for All, Forces Poetry, Forces Stories, and a contributors’ forum.

Incidentally it is called FLOW for All rather than just FLOW because that simpler website name was not available.

The BBC has also picked up on the work, and a number of FLOW’s poets are being interviewed as part of a programme on Radio 4 on November 16 at 4.30pm.

Now Mac is anxious for publicity to spread the message and raise awareness about the organisation, and in so doing help raise the cash which will support its work and take it closer to registered charity status.

“We need to get people to know about what we do, and to send in poems and so on. Our belief is that there are thousands of people out there who have got emotional baggage, for want of a better word, and want to express their feelings and thoughts. If they can do it in this way, that’s great.”

How you can help

Become a Corporate Partner. For a minimum payment of £250 a local business, firm, or organisation will receive a page on the FLOW for All website. This is both a visible show of support for the work of the group, but also a billboard on which a firm or organisation can say something about itself.

Buy the book. “Voices of the Poppies” is an anthology of selected works from the Forces Poetry website. It has an introduction by Dame Vera Lynn, and forewords by Deborah Tainsh from America, whose son was killed in Iraq, and Graham Knight, whose son was killed in a Nimrod crash in Afghanistan. It is available through www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk, the website of the publisher SilverWood, and costs £8.99 softback, or £14.99 hardback, plus postage.

Donate. Contributions to the work of FLOW for All can be made directly through its website, www.flowforall.org