Up to £8million of funding is now available from the Office for Veterans' Affairs (OVA) to help tackle the issue of veterans' homelessness.
Charities and organisations are now able to bid for up to £1.5million to provide wraparound support, with the funding helping tackle the issues faced by homeless veterans and provide accommodation.
Under the new Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme, the Armed Covenant Fund Trust awards grants on behalf of the OVA to projects providing specialist care.
The funding is expected to help provide services for more than 900 housing places across the UK, providing support while making sure veterans have access to housing – giving them a greater chance of living a stable, healthy life.
Johnny Mercer, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, said: 'No one, not least those who have served this country, should be homeless.
'Only by helping to address the complex issues faced by some veterans can we end veterans' homelessness.'
The Armed Covenant Fund Trust is encouraging charities, housing associations and registered social housing providers to apply for the two-year grant.
Successful applicants will need to clearly demonstrate:
- considerable experience in providing support to homeless veterans or those at risk of homelessness
- that their project is adaptable to the needs of veterans, including veterans with high, medium and low-level support needs
- that their project will deliver sustainable results for the veterans accessing them, so that they don’t return to being homeless.
The projects must also be collaborative and show how they would work with Op Fortitude, the Government's new referral pathway for homeless veterans and those at risk.
The programme is now accepting applications, with the deadline at 17:00 on 22 May this year.
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