For 10 years, The Younger Heroes has changed the lives of families impacted by military service
Across Australia, the lasting impacts of military service are becoming increasingly recognised. Those who are often left behind, however, are the children of veterans, many of whom experience prolonged parent absences and additional family pressures.
Charity The Younger Heroes has been working to address this gap for almost a decade, delivering support programs for current and former serving defence veterans and their children.
Since becoming a charity in 2017, The Younger Heroes has supported over 270 families through programs which strengthen relationships in families that have been impacted by military service.
Set outdoors, activities run over a weekend and include bush walks, collaborative challenges and fireside chats.
Founder Damien Schofield’s father was a Vietnam War veteran. “It wasn’t until my teens that I started to really see the impacts, how it can ripple through a family and also create generational trauma,” Damien says.
The 2014 Vietnam Veterans Family Study found that there are strong links between a veteran parent’s PTSD and subsequent intergenerational trauma.
When Damien saw history starting to repeat itself during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, he felt compelled to act. “I just didn’t want to see the same thing happen with this generation,” he says.
Mark Adcock connecting with daughter Charlie at The Younger Heroes
“I wanted to create a program that worked with parent and child before those things happen.”
Damien says the program activities are all about ‘team building and communication skills.’
“We do a three kilometre walk-in from our meeting point into the campsite, and that allows us to have a look, immerse ourselves in the program, and leave the noise behind,” Damien says.
As a device-free environment, the programs allow the participants to ‘disconnect from technology to reconnect.’
“It doesn’t take long to really start to let the stresses of life go and really immerse yourself in the program,” Damien notes.
Most of the program’s facilitators are veterans themselves, aiming to encourage teamwork and communication while building understanding.
One such facilitator is Army veteran Mark Adcock, who is giving back to The Younger Heroes after participating in the program twice.
Having served for 31 years, Mark knew of the effects his intermittent time away had on not only himself, but also his wife and four children. Interstate and overseas deployments had his children thinking, ‘How come dad has to go away and he doesn’t get to stay at home like all my friend’s dads do?’
There is a barrier in speaking about the challenges of defence service, Mark says. “It’s hard to explain what you’ve been through, explain how you’re feeling.”
Coming across the charity’s program was ‘a game-changer,’ Mark says, allowing him to open up emotionally to his children in a way he hadn’t been able to before, particularly with daughter Charlie, now 13.
“I was able to get emotional in front of my child…and see her reaction; and then the love that she showed to me and her coming out of her shell at the same time.”
Now a facilitator of the program, Mark continues to notice that many of the families experience similar struggles. “It was such a commonality, the way everyone’s on a different journey, but we’re all dealing with the same challenges.
“I think every veteran should have the opportunity to bring their child or children to these programs, because there’s nothing like it,” he adds.
Charlie has now joined Mark on the program as a child facilitator, able to discuss her experience, including having to attend three different primary schools as her father was moved to bases around Australia – common in the Armed Services.
“It has brought Dad and I closer together and has made it easier for me to have conversations with him. I feel like he knows where I’m coming from and how to understand me,” she says.
Charlie hopes that other children partaking in the program know ‘that it is okay to share hard moments, because your parents and all the other people you meet on the program are there and they support you.’
It is this sentiment that led Damien to start up The Younger Heroes in the first place, with the goal of stopping intergenerational trauma before it starts and strengthening bonds.
“At the start of the program, obviously, everyone’s a bit nervous and hesitant,” he says.
“By the last hour, everyone doesn’t want to go home, to be honest. It’s just a massive reset.”
With some participants coming back to complete a second program after 12 months, Damien says the transformation is ‘amazing.’
“It’s like two different people coming back. It happens over and over again.”
Hurlstone Park based Communal Group has just started a three-year partnership with The Younger Heroes, which has enabled a ‘massive transformation.’
“Since Communal Group sponsored us, we’ve just gone ahead leaps and bounds with getting out there,” says Damien.
With the Federal Government starting to take notice of the charity and recognise the need to address children as well as veterans, Damien attributes this growing traction to the club funding.
“Without that funding from Communal Group, we would have still been just plodding along with one foot in the mud.”
With many existing programs solely focusing on veterans themselves, The Younger Heroes is helping families reconnect, recognising that military service affects more than the person in uniform.
Communal Group CEO Dean Thomas with Damien Schofield, founder of The Younger Heroes
Communal Group partners with The Younger Heroes
By Michelle Giglio
Communal Group (Communal), which operates several clubs including Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL, is a firm supporter of community causes, donating almost $400,000 category 1 ClubGRANTS in 2026.
In 2025 Communal funded a Younger Heroes program, and liked its ‘singular focus’ on the veteran and their family.
Communal CEO Dean Thomas says that supporting veterans, as the club has done since 1947, ‘is really part of our DNA.’
“The veteran is part of a family, not just a veteran on their own,” states Dean. “The feedback we had from veterans is that the impact of The Younger Heroes program is profound.”
The group now has a three-year partnership with The Younger Heroes, also supported by the Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL sub-branch, which will allow founder Damien Schofield to devote his time ‘completely’ to the charity. “We worked with Damien on his strategic plan, and we felt our funding would really enable him to broaden his reach and the positive impact,” Dean says. “It enables him to run more programs, and then to add additional services as part of those programs.”
Dean has himself been strongly involved in veterans affairs, and is chairperson of the RSL and Services Clubs Association. He reflects that the needs of veterans have evolved over the years – as well as how RSLs support them.
One of the biggest issues is adjustment post-service. “It could be a direct experience that’s led to things like post-traumatic stress. And then there’s the shift of (role),” explains Dean.
“When you’re in the military, there’s a real clear sense of purpose. And what you’re expected to do in your role is very well set out. And when you leave, it’s the absence of that purpose which can sometimes gradually undermine the person’s wellbeing.”
Communal’s Jamil Chalhoub (bottom left) was ‘blown away’ when he joined a Younger Heroes program
Strain on family relationships is a pressure during service, and beyond. “Younger Heroes helps (veterans) reconnect with their family. And it helps their family reconnect with the veteran.”
Hurlstone Park general manager Jamil Chalhoub attended one of the Heroes programs and was ‘blown away by the impact,’ Dean says. “He saw how it was so well thought out.
“Over time the program seeks to break down the barriers between the veteran, what’s causing the barriers for them to connect with their family again, and then rebuilding that connection.”