A Flan for Shan
By Elena Rowland, Founder & CEO, The Flannel Project
The Flannel Project exists because heartbreak and trauma demanded action.
We’re a charity that supports survivors of veteran suicide – the friends, family, and witnesses left behind when someone we love can’t fight anymore. We’re doing postvention through the eyes of the veteran, understanding all the complicated layers that come with military service and loss.
Our work is built on 3 pillars: choice, connection, and communication. We offer practical help, counselling, and a voice when grief steals your words, especially in those brutal first weeks after loss.
Shannen Box was a Private in the Army. Fierce. Loyal. The kind of person who’d have your back without question. Her death ripped a hole through everyone who knew her. Her best friend Courtney found her body, alongside Shan’s partner Hannah.
That moment broke them both. We raised funds to get them into trauma therapy for a year – not because it would fix everything, but because they deserved support when the world felt like it was ending.
That’s where The Flannel Project started. In their pain. In our promise that no one should walk this road alone.
I served 14 years in the Army. It left scars – PTSD among them. But Shan’s death taught me something: survivors need more than sympathy cards and casseroles. They need real support. Community. A reason to keep breathing.
On 21 June, around 200 people gathered in Brisbane for our second annual Wear a Flan for Shan Walk. Each person carried something – a name, a memory, a weight that never really goes away.
This year’s theme was “The Silent Walk Home”. We started with speeches and shared stories. But on the return journey, we walked in silence. No words – just footsteps, flags, and the ache we all carried. At the end, we broke that silence together – survivors, supporters, soldiers, family – choosing hope over despair.
The silence wasn’t empty. It was full of everything we wish we could say to the ones we’ve lost. Breaking it reminded us why we keep speaking up – for those still fighting battles no one can see.
Every dollar raised funds our SOS (Survivors of Suicide) Flannel Card program – up to $1,000 in immediate support during the first 4 weeks after a veteran suicide. It’s practical, personal, and sometimes life-saving.
We’re also pushing for something bigger: a national Flannel Flower Day to remember those we’ve lost to suicide in the veteran community. Because grief deserves recognition. And those who served – and were lost after service – deserve to be remembered.
To learn more about us, visit www.theflannelproject.com or follow us on social media.
