A Veterans Aid team joined homelessness experts from throughout Europe at the Annual FEANTSA Policy Conference in Poland.
More than 350 individuals including frontline service providers, academics, advocates, local, national and European policy-makers working in the homelessness and related sectors participated in the event held in the historic European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk.
Read moreABF The Soldiers’ Charity is delighted to announce that this year’s Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch has raised an astounding £189,000. All the money raised will go directly to helping soldiers and veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families, and need support from the Army’s National Charity, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity.
Read moreTwo members of staff from a national military charity have driven through an incredible 24 countries in just five days. The funds raised will be going to the blind veterans their charity supports.
Chief of Staff, Nathan Muirhead and Head of Transport, Chris Kirk are both employees of Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaierd ex-Service men and women.
The drive, which took place from Monday 8 – Friday 12 May, saw Nathan and Chris take in an incredible 24 countries, including but not limited to, France, Switzerland, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Turkey. Chris says: “It was a huge challenge.
Read moreThe RAF Benevolent Fund, the RAF’s leading welfare charity, has announced the extension of its telephone friendship group service after a successful year-long pilot. The programme, open to ex-serving personnel and their dependants, connects like-minded people together over the phone, providing vital human contact that is often taken for granted.
The pilot scheme began in July 2016 using guests from the RAF Benevolent Fund’s respite home on the south coast, Princess Marina House. The trial involved three groups consisting of up to seven people per group, all of whom were over the age of 65.
Read moreService Leavers who are likely to struggle to adapt to civilian life should be identified by the Ministry of Defence before they leave the Armed Forces and offered tailored support to help transition effectively, according to two Veterans’ organisations. Armed Forces charities Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) and Stoll, the leading provider of supported housing for Veterans, are calling for services to be developed across the UK that ensure the most vulnerable Service Leavers receive the health and welfare support they need, and avoid homelessness and unemployment. Service Leavers who are most likely to struggle with adapting to civilian life include people with mental health issues, and those with no settled home or family life to go to after their transition into civilian life.
Read moreWinchester University is delighted to announce an excellent line-up of leading policy, research and practice contributions including: Keynote: Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Chair of the APPG Armed Forces Covenant
Q&A Panel: your chance to hear from and question key policy makers, including Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Ministry of Defence, Offa and Department for Education.
In June 2017, The Queen Alexandra Hospital Home (QAHH), Worthing, is teaming up with three local Solicitors for its Make a Will initiative. The participating Solicitors have all kindly agreed to waive their usual Will-writing fees in exchange for a donation to the charity.
Having an up-to-date Will is the best way to ensure that your wishes are not forgotten. Without one, you can’t be sure that your money and property will be passed on to the people and good causes you care about most.
Read moreAFF is researching the challenges that Armed Forces families may experience when transitioning to civilian life, as well as the support available to them, so we can identify any gaps.
We would like to follow families through the transition process to gain a better understanding of the practical and emotional aspirations and challenges that surround transition, to give us a much broader understanding of the needs and wants of transitioning families.
Read moreARNO/ RNOC has put together some briefing notes on the Common Reporting Standard:
Under a global agreement for exchange of information and an EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation known as the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), any charity which receives 50% or more of its gross income from investments and has any part of those assets under management via a discretionary investment mandate, falls within the definition of a “Financial Institution” and is therefore required to obtain data and potentially report on “Account Holders”.
A Financial Institution that is legally formed as a charitable trust will have to regard its charitable grantees as well as any living settlor as “Account Holders”, since these will be seen under the CRS as having an “equity interest” in the charity. This means that due diligence will need to be undertaken on all beneficiaries of those charitable trusts. Essentially this means determining whether or not a beneficiary is resident in the UK for tax purposes, and if not, beneficiaries should be asked to self-certify their tax residence and to provide a tax identification number if possible.
Read moreA woman from Mile End is training to compete in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon for Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-Service men and women, after it supported her late grandfather.
Hana Barten, 23 and originally from Colchester, decided she wanted to give something back to the charity in memory of her grandfather. She says: “I really wanted to do some fundraising for Blind Veterans UK in memory of my beloved grandfather. They really helped him towards the end of his life, so after taking a look at their website, I decided that the Royal Parks Half Marathon would be a good one to do!
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Afghanistan support
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here
