Financial assistance to serving and retired RN and RM Officers in distress.
Contact Information
London
W2 3TP
Support Offered
Grants and benefits. Financial help to maintain children in private education
Financial assistance to serving and retired RN and RM Officers in distress.
Grants and benefits. Financial help to maintain children in private education
A Special group of Volunteers, recently formed to try and offer a much needed service of friendship, support and comfort.
Friendship, support and comfort
WRVS Services Welfare delivers an independent and confidential welfare support service, which is responsive to the needs of single and unaccompanied service personnel at military establishments in the UK and abroad.
WRVS is part of the Royal Voluntary Service.
• Centres at designated MoD establishments where service personnel can relax and meet with friends in an alcohol free environment.
• An area where service personnel can speak to trained welfare professionals.
We hold two sessions per month (with ad hoc trips, meals out, education etc) and we are committed to supporting veterans and their families within the Kirklees rural community. We aim to provide social, services and sanctuary for military veterans. We provide indoor and outdoor projects, education with speakers on all manner of subjects from medical healthcare, (our local GPs were involved in setting these hubs up), history of the area, learning to do things, for example, cookery, wood whittling, wreath making, Jesmonite models. Our aim is to integrate some of our more vulnerable veterans back into society, with trips out, with doing some woodwork for a local school, art work. We have found that some of our veterans suffering with combat related PTSD are enjoying being with like-minded veterans and the more vulnerable are being looked after and are speaking freely with others about their trauma which is helping them tremendously. We have done questionnaires which shows we have got this right, with one veteran saying “we had saved his life”.
We are fully supported by our local GPs and if we have a veteran we are worried about we can call that persons GP. (The GPs will then contact that veteran for a medicines review so that they can speak to the veteran and ascertain whether or not they need help). All our Trustees have had first aid training, MH training and some counselling (although we do not counsel our veterans).
We have regular talks from GPs, OTs, Physiotherapists, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and the aim is to ensure that our veterans do not miss out on their medical checks as the hubs were set up to address health inequalities in the rural areas of Huddersfield and veterans were seen to be the ones missing out.
We believe that whilst doing crafts etc our veterans are bonding with their colleagues and this is the time when they all get to speak about their ‘war experiences’. There is lots of banter and laughs.
We have veterans who are physically disabled as well as those with mental health problems, CPTSD, anxiety, depression, loneliness and some who are just there for the banter, talks and crafting sessions. Veterans are making new friends and with that comes the “If you need someone to go with you, Ill go with you” attitude, offering lifts and offering help with things that the more disabled veterans cannot do.
We liaise with the RBL, SSAFA if any of our veterans need help and support. We also liaise with the local council re: housing and in the past have used H4H for various activities.
The local social prescribers at our GP practices refer into us as do Walking with the Wounded and H4H.
Sharks Community Trust is the charitable arm of Sale Sharks, the North West’s only Premiership Rugby club. The charity was established in 2012 to help use rugby and sport for the wider community benefit, drawing on the core values of rugby, which are teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship, to deliver a range of community engagement programmes.
The use of rugby and sport has been used for many years to engage young people, and it is this interest that Sharks Community Trust seeks to draw upon. This includes delivering numeracy programmes in the classroom, linking sport with encouraging healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle, and delivering education particularly to young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). The Trust also has a comprehensive disability and inclusion programme, ‘In The Pack’ delivering a mixture of multi-sports and wheelchair sports to people with special and additional needs along with a successful ex-service personnel programme ‘Sharks Forces’ that supports veterans and their families with the transition from service to civilian with housing, employment and social and physical activity support.
We offer services and activities to improve the physical health, mental health and employability skills of ex-service personnel and their families. We give them a visibility within their community delivering the project at community venues. Delivering drop-in social hubs to develop and maintain relationships with individuals who are sceptical and nervous at engaging with civilian society. Enhancing personal and social skills such as communication skills and confidence along with increasing employability skills and their well-being. We also work with the veteran’s family, introducing an intergenerational approach. We use our relationship with community rugby clubs across the North West to create a social hub for the whole community. We use gym and sport facilities based within clubs and use the clubhouse to host themed workshops. We also work closely with rugby clubs to identify volunteering opportunities as part of the programme. We create and offer a wide range of sporting activities for Veterans who are blind or visually impaired, there is a huge gap in the local offering from other key stakeholders in regards to physical activities suitable for Veterans with additional needs.
A world of opportunity exists for ex-Servicemen and women when they leave the Armed Forces. SaluteMyJob is a business with a social purpose that works to connect members of the Armed Forces community with the opportunities available to them.
Helping jobseekers at any stage of their military transition or career journey to plan and prepare for their next job, SaluteMyJob provides free employment-related resources, advice and training to veterans, reservists and their families. SaluteMyJob’s free online training platform, which is exclusive to the Armed Forces community, enables them to adapt or develop the skills they need to improve their competitiveness and to secure successful employment.
Alongside its career support, SaluteMyJob works with supportive employers around the UK to provide the Armed Forces community with access to relevant jobs, work placements, apprenticeships and more. These organisations and their opportunities feature in SaluteMyJob’s unique directory of Forces-friendly employers.
Provide supported independent living accommodation for ex-Service people and ex-Merchant mariners who are homeless or in need.
Help with benefits and pensions.
Financial support for residents on very low incomes.
128 high quality, single, en-suite rooms with full catering service in Edinburgh and Dundee. 25 affordable rental flats.
Practical, emotional and welfare support including housing support. 24 hour support warden cover.
Seafarers’ Advice & Information Line (SAIL) is a free advice service supporting active and former seafarers across the UK. This includes the Naval Service.
All advice is free and confidential. SAIL’s advice is given over the phone, by email or by post. SAIL also attends the VOS every month in Portsmouth.
SAIL is part of Citizens Advice.
Seafarers’ Advice & Information Line (SAIL) offers free advice and support to anyone who’s ever served in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the Reserves, as well as their partners. SAIL has 8 professional advisers.
Advice is given on a wide range of issues, for example debt, benefits, housing, immigration, the practicalities of relationship breakdown and much more.
Contact SAIL free on 0800 160 1842. For more on SAIL see www.sailine.org.uk
Established in 1915 to support servicemen who were blinded in WWI, today we help blind and partially sighted veterans no matter how or when they lost their sight – including those who did national service – to adapt to life with a visual impairment.
Our offer is as diverse as those we support. We know that everyone faces different challenges and that everyone’s goals are individual. That’s why our team work with everyone in the way which is right for them.
We give support that ranges from practical advice and identifying solutions that help you stay as independent as possible, to vital emotional support and opportunities to meet others facing sight loss.
Sight Scotland Veterans can also provide specialist equipment free of charge to aid independence in day-to-day tasks – from talking watches, cooking aids and electronic magnifiers, to digital technology such as smartphones or tablets with specialist software for people with sight loss.
The charity’s expert rehabilitation team offer one-to-one assessments and tailored training for specialist equipment and cane and mobility training.
Sight Scotland Veterans also runs two activity hubs for veterans with sight loss: the Linburn Centre in Wilkieston, West Lothian, and the Hawkhead Centre in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Smart Savings CIC is a charitable and award-winning Community Interest Company that has supported members of the Armed Forces community in Cornwall and Devon since 2012. We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, registered with the ICO, are members of Advice UK and ASDIC and are a Veterans Gateway’ partner.
We enable serving members of the armed forces, veterans and their families to access vital support services to tackle money, health, housing and employment issues.
Our team of veteran support workers use their own experiences to help fellow veterans and their families at our monthly drop-in and hub in Cornwall to confront challenges in their lives and manage their journeys of recovery.
Our team of FCA-accredited money and welfare advisers provide specialist advice and information relating to money, debt, housing, health and employment. Our veteran drop-in and hub offers peer support, training, social activities, refreshments and food parcels.
We work collaboratively with military charities, statutory bodies and other relevant organisations to increase veterans’ access to services and improve their journeys of recovery.
Afghanistan support
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here