Cops & Cars
August 3 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
1965 PTSD AWARENESS was founded by Ben Pearson (and business partner Dan Stanek) who retired from West Yorkshire Police following 19 years of service after being diagnosed with severe complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Since retirement, Ben has become an advocate for men’s mental health which includes being an ambassador for Bradford District NHS Mental Health Trust. In addition, he has written 2 best selling books and launched the ‘1965 PTSD Awareness’ online merchandise store. Ben, being no stranger to starring on screen, regularly appearing on Channel 5’s ‘Police Interceptors’ created a YouTube channel and Spotify podcast to share his story. To date, his YouTube channel has scored over 7.1 million hits, is viewed over 400 thousand times a month and has over 75 thousand subscribers and growing.
The next chapter in Ben’s journey was to build a team to help him spread awareness and start the 1965 PTSD Charity. The aim of the charity is to raise awareness of PTSD and provide support for those living with PTSD in the UK. To do this, they provide information at talks, events and via social media, and by making grants for Emergency Services personnel living with PTSD to enable access to timely support and counselling.