The Minister for Veterans and People Al Carns DSO OBE MC MP visited homeless veteran’s charity Launchpad in Liverpool to announce £295,324 allocation of government funding to deliver the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme.
Minister Carns received a tour of Speke House and met staff and residents to hear firsthand the impact the programme has had on the veterans living at the scheme, which comprises 50 self-contained, one-bedroom flats.
As part of the overall £2.9 million funding allocated by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs last week, Launchpad will provide sustained support to a further 135 homeless veterans across all three of its houses until March 2026. Support will include combined addiction/mental health psychotherapy, intensive training/employment support, greater access to wellbeing enhancing community activities, and support to transition into and retain independent accommodation.
Launchpad works alongside Op FORTITUDE, a government backed UK wide referral pathway supporting homeless veterans or veterans at risk of homelessness into housing and will accommodate referrals.
The initial two-year £8.5 million programme was launched in 2023 to reduce veterans’ homelessness and Launchpad was selected as one of nine funded organisations to help deliver it by providing vital accommodation and wraparound services.
In the first 17-months of delivery, Launchpad successfully supported 202 homeless veterans with high-complex needs across all three of its houses in Newcastle, Liverpool and Durham. Last year, across all sources, the charity received 361 referrals accommodating 171 homeless veterans during the year – 27% more than two years ago.
In 2023/24, data by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) shows a 7.6% increase of households with a veteran assessed as being homeless, compared to the previous year. There was an 8% increase in all households assessed as being owed a homelessness duty over the same period.
Minister Al Carns, said:
“Every veteran deserves a safe place to call home after serving our country. I’m proud that our Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme will enable Launchpad to support 135 more veterans in need.
“Successful organisations like Launchpad show what can be achieved through targeted support. They help to address the complex challenges that some veterans experience, improve their mental health and support them to move forward with their lives.
“This Government is committed to ensuring no veteran falls through the cracks. That’s why Op FORTITUDE will plug into our wider VALOUR system, where veterans can use a single service to improve access to bespoke housing, health and employment support. The Government is renewing the contract with those who have served.”
Jill Murray, Chief Executive of Launchpad, said:
“We welcome the government’s announcement to extend the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme and to continue to believe in Launchpad as one of their key delivery partners nationally.
“We have been overwhelmed with demand since the launch of the programme two years ago and are proud to have supported those homeless veterans’ who have been referred to us. It’s vitally important that specialised support to veterans continues and our outcomes support this.
“I’d like to thank Minister Carns for visiting Speke House to meet staff and residents and announce this extended funding. Thanks to ‘Reducing Veteran Homelessness’ funding and the increased support this enabled us to provide, 70% of our veterans successfully moved on to long-term accommodation. Despite their complex challenges, 37% of our veterans secured employment while 88% of our residents said they were able to deal better with their addictions and 89% said their mental health improved.
“My experienced team are ready to support those who need our help and assistance.”
In addition to providing vital accommodation across all three houses, the extended funding will:
- Include 40 weekly psychotherapy sessions across the three locations to help newly arrived veterans address their often-entrenched addictions and mental health problems, including PTSD, suicidal ideation, depression and anxiety.
- Delivery of an extensive programme of health-improvement activities to keep the veterans focussed on their recovery and avoid addiction relapse. This includes outdoor sports, peer-support activities, mindfulness and volunteering.
- Support with employment and training to help the veterans build their employment skills, undertake training, work experience and identify and apply for employment opportunities.
- Provide support to the veterans once they move on to live independently. Our dedicated Independent Living Co-ordinators will work alongside them to identify long-term housing opportunities and support them in their new accommodation to ensure they sustain their recovery and avoid a return to homelessness.
