As the year draws to a close, we are celebrating the incredible work of UK charities and organisations supporting the Armed Forces community. Since the Foundation was set up, we have awarded over £32 million to over 500 charities and community interest companies.
This year alone, we awarded over £7m to charities and our grants focused on five key areas of support: health and wellbeing; education and employment; housing and homelessness; community engagement; and Armed Forces families.
In health and wellbeing, we awarded Veterans With Dogs a grant of £50,000 (£25,000 per year over two years) to contribute towards the salaries of a Head of Training & Behaviour and a Mental Health Practitioner. This support will enable the charity to expand assistance dog partnerships and therapeutic services for veterans living with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and complex trauma.
The BOWRA Foundation also received a grant of £50,000, contributing towards the salary of their new full-time CEO (£25,000 per year over two years) to strengthen leadership and deliver rehabilitation, practical help, and physical challenges for veterans and serving personnel with neurological injuries.
In housing and immediate needs, The Veterans’ Charity received £30,000 to support welfare provisions such as food, utilities, household appliances, and temporary accommodation for veterans and their families across the UK.
Community engagement and long-term care were also supported through a grant to Broughton House Veteran Care Village (pictured left), contributing to the salary of the Wellbeing and Activity Coordinator for a period of three years, enhancing activities and support for elderly veterans. RAF Leeming Community Primary School PTFA received a small grant to improve playground facilities, benefiting children from Armed Forces families living on base.
Supporting armed forces families and under-represented groups also remained a priority.
Aurora New Dawn’s grant was allocated towards the salaries of two key staff in its Armed Forces Support and Training Programme, expanding services for veterans experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence, and stalking.
We also supported The WRAC Association’s Female Veterans Transformation Programme (pictured centre) who in November launched a national toolkit to meet the specific needs of female veterans in healthcare, employment, finance, and combating loneliness,
We also provided support to Beyond the Wire, with funding to develop and host an online bereavement hub, covering development and hosting costs, giving families a dedicated space to access support after the loss of a serving person.
Our work is made possible by the dedication of their teams and the kind generosity of Veterans’ Lottery players, whose contributions help ensure our grants reach those who need them most.
For the Veterans’ Foundation team it has been a busy and productive year. We have welcomed a number of new members to the team, including our co-leaders and Head of Grants, as well as additional support for governance, finance and grants. These new colleagues have allowed us to build our internal capacity and ensure that we get funding out to the Armed Forces community where and when they need it.
We also bade a fond farewell to our first Chairman, Peter Mountford, who has led the charity through the huge success of its early years. We end the year with our new Chairman, Andrew Anderson (pictured right), in place and the Veterans’ Foundation’s 10th anniversary next summer.
Looking ahead to our next decade, we are excited to see all the charitable organisations we support, continue to grow and provide vital support to the Armed Forces community at every stage of life.
