Housing association LiveWest is providing homes for at least 60 military veterans across Devon as part of a targeted programme to tackle the issue of homelessness.
With funding from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust has awarded £995,000 to LiveWest under the Reducing Veterans’ Homelessness programme.
The money is being used to support LiveWest’s New Seasons Veterans Supported Housing Project — a two-year project based in Devon working closely with Operation FORTITUDE to help end veteran homelessness in the UK.
Operation FORTITUDE is funded by The Armed Forces Covenant Fund, through the OVA’s Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme, to deliver a centralised referral pathway to help veterans find suitable housing.
Working with charities, Operation FORTITUDE will provide a single central point for local authorities and charities to identify those in need and refer them to a network of support. Whether a veteran is at risk of or experiencing homelessness, the housing provider will work with the veterans to help find them suitable accommodation, offer support in their current home and support them on their journey to independent living.
The £8.55m investment from the Office of Veterans’ Affairs (Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme) will also enable veterans to access supported housing schemes across the country and wrap-around specialist care in health, housing, education and employment. Supported housing schemes in Exeter, Torquay, Plymouth, Honiton and Newton Abbot have already been earmarked by LiveWest for veterans to move into.
LiveWest, the largest housing association in the South West, has pledged to support at least 60 veterans over the next two years.
Mandy Martin, Service Lead for Adults and Families’ Housing at LiveWest, said: “We are delighted to be chosen as a partner of this fantastic programme which is designed to support military veterans experiencing challenges in their lives.
“Many veterans will face significant challenges when they leave the forces, and some end up homeless. By providing homes and offering our support for the veterans, we hope to give them an opportunity to rebuild their confidence, self-esteem and worth so that they can start to recover their lives and plan and shape their future.
“We were made aware of the funding opportunity and the excellent work that Operation FORTITUDE would be doing and we had some helpful conversations with the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs about how we can help support our veterans and decrease the number of veterans experiencing homelessness.
“LiveWest is passionate about supporting people and the aim is to develop an environment for people to thrive, build connections and help them on their path to independent living in the future.”
The underlying issues causing a military veteran to be at risk of homelessness could be one or more of a range of issues, including trauma, relationship breakdown, isolation, income challenges, employment, mental or physical health, substance misuse etc.
New Seasons will have eight full-time support staff alongside a manager and team leader to oversee the project, which will receive referrals through Operation FORTITUDE’S nationwide portal to ensure veterans are appropriately matched in line with their support needs.
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Johnny Mercer, commented: “This Government is determined to end veterans homelessness, which is why we are investing over £8.5m of funding to help meet this ambition.
“The work of our partners, such as LiveWest, are vital to helping our veterans get back on their feet, and I am grateful for their work supporting our former service personnel, to whom we owe so much.”
LiveWest has a history of supporting veterans with homes, one of which was the Nelson Project in Plymouth, which is a multi-award winning scheme including 12 self-build homes for military veterans. The housing association also has a block of 10 flats in Bristol, which was a self-build project for veterans.
LiveWest is also on the verge of completing another self-build project in Plymouth called Stirling House, containing seven homes, which former service personnel in need of housing helped to build.
