Pete Lauder

Pete Lauder is an RAF Veteran and a multi-medal-holding disability and mental health advocate. He brings a uniquely powerful and inspiring perspective as a mental health speaker, drawing on over two decades of experience in the RAF, which unfortunately ended with a medical discharge. Currently working as a Senior Information Analyst for NHS East of England Provider Collaborative, Pete plays an active role in improving mental health services across the region, leveraging his extensive background to foster understanding and support for those facing mental health challenges.

At just 18, Pete joined the RAF as an airman in the communications trade. He later transitioned into Photographic Interpretation, deploying to Kosovo, Kuwait, Iraq (Operation TELIC), and Afghanistan (Operation HERRICK), giving him firsthand insight into the mental strain experienced by military personnel. A respected Intelligence Analyst instructor by the end of his military career, Pete’s teaching excellence earned him a stint at Langley AFB, where he became the first foreign national allowed into the US Unmanned Airborne Vehicle Programme. From this, Pete received a commendation in the Queen’s New Year Honours List.

With a medical discharge from the RAF, Pete suffered from a severe, undiagnosed hip injury that required full hip replacement surgery and left lasting physical damage. This life-altering experience deeply impacted his mental health, leaving him without a job or stable income during the Pandemic and left him having to learn to walk again on his own. Yet instead of stepping back, Pete found purpose again through adaptive sports. He created the RAF’s first Adaptive Sports Club in 2019 and went on to found Norfolk’s first disability-inclusive sports club, along with the first wheelchair rugby league team in King’s Lynn in 2024. Pete has competed for Team UK at the Warrior Games, Veterans Games, and the 2025 Invictus Games, in which he won silver for wheelchair rugby.

Pete is dedicated to empowering individuals of all abilities to push boundaries despite facing physical and mental challenges. His lived experience, military discipline, and passionate disability advocacy make him a compelling and credible speaker on mental health, recovery, and resilience. Pete is dedicated to improving the care of those seeking mental health services and understands the importance of sharing internal troubles, building mental resilience, and using sport to improve mental wellbeing.