Veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless will benefit from a new grant of £140,000. The grant, awarded to Alabaré’s Homes for Veterans by ABF The Soldiers’ Charity will benefit the charity’s Welsh Homes for Veterans who will receive £50,000 of the grant, and £90,000 will be used by England Homes for Veterans to provide supported accommodation and support for those Veterans in need.
Alabaré’s Homes for Veterans offer support to service men and women across the UK who have left active service and who are experiencing difficulty adapting to civilian life. These former service personnel are homeless or at risk of being homeless, usually due to a lack of support network and social isolation after discharge. Others sometimes experience depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, ill health, unemployment, family breakdown or similar. Alabaré is there for them, to help them regain their confidence, build skills and become ready to live successful, independent lives once more.
Andrew Lord, Chief Executive, Alabaré Christian Care & Support said:
“ABF The Soldiers’ Charity are generous supporters of Alabaré’s work with vulnerable Veterans. With their financial support, we are able to provide much needed accommodation and support to vulnerable Veterans in our homes in England and Wales. ABF The Soldiers’ Charity is a great organisation to work with. We both strive to transform the lives of Veterans.”
Alabaré currently operates 23 Homes for Veterans across England and Wales, providing bed spaces for 113 veterans in crisis. Last year alone, Homes for Veterans supported over 200 ex-service personnel across our region.
Without the financial support from charities such as ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, Alabaré could not continue to provide much needed care and support to ex-service men and women in need. Veterans like Tony who, after a marriage breakdown found himself sleeping rough on the street –
Tony served in the British Army for 13 years, achieving the rank of Lance Corporal. He served in Iraq, Kosovo, and Afghanistan but was tragically wounded on his last tour.
He left the army and returned to his wife and children. Tony found it difficult to adapt to civilian life after serving for so long. His marriage broke down and he found life very hard to cope with. His life started to spiral out of control he could not see a way out and turned to alcohol as a comfort but this just made things worse. He was forced to move out of the family home but had nowhere to go, he became street homeless.
Fortunately, Tony’s local Council referred him to Alabaré who quickly moved him into one of their specialist Homes for Veterans. He settled in immediately and felt much more comfortable in a house surrounded by other Veterans.
With the benefits of having a place to call home and a dedicated team of support staff to help him, Tony had found the help he needed. He enrolled on training courses and started to apply for jobs. Before long, Tony had secured a good well-paid position for himself in the local area. With Alabaré’s help, Tony managed to regain his independence and moved out into his own accommodation after 6 months. He is now back in contact with is family and has regular contact with his children. Tony is now very positive about the future.
Brigadier (Ret’d) Robin Bacon, Chief of Staff, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity adds: “Due to a lack of support and social isolation after discharge, some of our veterans are left homeless. We are grateful to Alabaré for providing those who need guidance a home for them to get back on their feet. Great work by a great charity.”
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For more information or to arrange an interview call Sarah Booth on 01722 344485.
Notes
At Alabaré we support people to overcome the barriers of homelessness, mental ill-health and learning disabilities in-order to have a home, health, choice and independence.
Alabaré Christian Care and Support provide the highest standards of accommodation and support to disadvantaged and vulnerable people in our communities in order that they can have a home, health, choice and independence. Since 1991, Alabaré have been working with people facing disadvantage through homelessness, mental ill-health, learning disability or a combination of these. We provide housing and personalised support based on the individual needs and aspirations of each person, tackling underlying causes and giving them the skills and confidence to move forward with their lives. www.alabare.co.uk
