Lee Buss-Blair, Director of Operations and Group Veteran Lead at Riverside, comments on the MoD’s announcement of three years of new funding for Op FORTITUDE and the Reducing Veterans Homelessness programme.
The £12m funding for vital homelessness services through the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme starts in April 2026 and will last through to March 2029. Op Fortitude is also being extended for three years to March 2029. To date this is the largest and longest funding programme for the Reducing Veterans Homelessness programme and Op Fortitude since they went live in July 2023.
Lee Buss-Blair said: “We warmly welcome the Government’s long-term funding commitment for the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme and the longer-term funding commitment to Op FORTITUDE. Together these programmes have made a transformational difference to the lives of hundreds of British military veterans.
“Between September 2023 and September 2025 Op Fortitude has placed more than 1,000 homeless veterans into accommodation which means around 10 homeless veterans a week are being placed into appropriate accommodation.
“This longer-term funding agreement is a testament to the hard-work and dedication of our colleagues who are improving the lives of so many veterans and means that they will be able to touch the lives of hundreds more veterans over the next three years.
“Op FORTITUDE and the network of veteran supported housing providers we work with play a vital role in supporting veterans experiencing homelessness to get the help they need and to go on and make the contributions to society that we know veterans are capable of achieving.
“Longer-term funding is hugely important as it provides security for veterans themselves and our colleagues who are providing care and support for veterans affected by homelessness.
“This long-term funding also brings veterans supported housing into line with the three-to-five-year contracts being provided by councils for mainstream supported housing and homelessness services and means that the armed forces community do not face disadvantage due to their service in the armed forces.”
Header image: Lee Buss-Blair, Director of Operations and Group Veteran Lead, at Riverside
