Rutland could be a "safe haven" for serving families
The Government's expected to announce £7m to help veterans at risk of homelessness
Veterans in Rutland say the county could become a "safe haven" for former and current serving families struggling to fit into their communities.
The Oakham Armed Forces and Veteran's Breakfast club already offers support in Rutland to those who served their country, and the county's already home to a large number of military personnel.
But ex-army officer, Ian Razzell, hopes Rutland can find space for those needing somewhere to go:
'It would be fantastic if Rutland, in the coming 1-2 years, can find somewhere that can become a safe space where service veterans or families can become apart of the community, where, in other places, they might not have been able to do so.'
£7m to reduce veteran homelessness
The Government's expected to announce today that £7m in funding will be made available to housing providers, to help veterans at risk of homelessness get better access to accommodation, healthcare and education.
Mr Razzell, from Rutland, served as a medic for nearly 40 years - and was stationed at St. George's Barracks in 2012. He says that, while support is there, veterans are notorious for not asking for help:
'They look to see if they can resolve things themselves and if they fall on hard times, or they become homeless, it's incredibly difficult for them to share that.
'There's multiple factors why veterans become homeless, but it's certainly based around living a well-adjusted life in the military, and then suddenly having to adapt to life as a civilian.'
He added that it's not just ex armed-forces that deserve the support:
'Should we look after veterans? Yes we should. Should we look after everybody that's in a similar situation? Yes we should. Veterans don't want to be treated differently, they want to be treated fairly and with due regard to their service.
That doesn't mean they want to be treated exceptionally differently to everybody else.'