Veterans to receive £22m cash boost
CHARITIES have been given more than £22m of funding to improve support and introduce new services to help older veterans in Halton and the UK.
The Aged Veterans Fund will help organisations across the country to continue the invaluable work they do including providing access to health care and carers, support with using the internet, and offering general advice.
Charities granted funds include Age UK, the Royal British Legion (RBL), the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, St Johns and Red Cross Defence Medical Welfare Service, Seafarers UK, and Hospice UK.
The Aged Veterans Fund which was established in 2015, had a total of £30m of LIBOR funds available to support older veterans. It is designed to support non-core health, wellbeing, and social care needs for older veterans born before January 1950.
It included surviving Second World War veterans, those who undertook National Service, and other voluntary enlisted veterans who may need some focused support in relation to their health and social care needs.
Defence minister Mark Lancaster said: “Our veterans have given so much for their country, and the Aged Veterans Fund is a way of us thanking our older veterans and ensuring they are cared for in later life.”
Age UK received £4.4m for its Joining Forces scheme, which gives up to 12 weeks of tailored support for older veterans across the country, providing information and advice, practical support at home, access to social events and digital technology, and opportunities to become more active.
The charity’s head of innovation and programmes said: “Joining Forces allows us to build on the work we already do across the country with older veterans and to reach out to those who may need more support.
“The grant means we can develop and test our services, and learn more about how best to support older veterans to get more out of later life.
“Our work has at its core what older people want to achieve for themselves.”
A total of £4.8m was awarded to the Legion Healthy Living Portfolio led by the RBL to promote healthy living through activities, research to improve services, and the training of specialist staff.
The RBL’s head of grants ● and social policy Steve Baynes said: “This grant will help the Legion continue its work with a network of charities, supporting the Armed Forces community through thick and thin.
“In particular, the grant will enable us and our partners to focus on achieving lasting social change for aged veterans.
“The veterans to benefit will be from a range of communities, including those who are at risk of becoming socially isolated, struggling with their physical or mental health, with hearing loss or in residential care. Many of the projects will also benefit carers and family members of those who served, and some are researchoriented so that we, as a society, are better informed of current and emerging needs.”