"Better than nothing but won’t go far" - £8 million made available to support homeless veterans
The Veterans Hub in Weymouth believe the system is set up for veterans to fail and people would rather live on the streets
Up to £8 million of funding will be made available by the government to tackle veterans’ homelessness head on.
The office for Veterans' Affairs will provide funding to housing providers to address the complex issues faced by homeless veterans such as housing.
They say: “No one, not least those who have served this country, should be homeless. That’s why we’re providing up to £8 million to fund tailored support for our veterans in hundreds of housing places across the country.”
The Veterans Hub in Weymouth said the funding is “better than nothing but won’t go very far.” The local veteran’s charity reported an increase in the number of veterans needing help with housing needs last year.
The funding is expected to provide services for over 900 supported housing places across the UK, supporting veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
But Andy Price from The Veterans Hub in Weymouth doesn’t think throwing money at housing will solve the homelessness issue.
He said: “One of the failings that we see within the veteran housing support system is that organisations think the answer is simply just putting a roof over someone's head but what the government needs to be doing is ensuring that person has got all the support in place to help them manage.”
He believes the system is set up for homeless veterans to fail: “I know of six veterans that have walked out of a service because they feel safer living on the street, so actually that £8 million is going to fail if they haven't got more support in place,” Andy said.
The government did note that they would also be providing “specialised support services” to address the complex issues veterans face while still making sure they have access to accommodation.
But Andy doesn’t hold out much hope: “Many feel that they've been let down so many times in the past they've given up and they'd rather be on the streets or sofa surfing or just living on the fringes of society.”
He told us that the men and women he speaks to feel more comfortable living on the street, and they feel safer living out of a bag.
Andy added: “I, myself, packed my bags when I'd been having a breakdown in my mental health and my whole way of dealing with that was disappearing and just living on the streets.”
The charity calls for support services relating to alcohol misuse, substance misuse or mental health issues being part of the solution.
The Office for Veterans is encouraging charities, housing associations and registered social housing providers to apply for a 2-year grant to stop veterans from being homeless in the future while also living “stable and healthy lives.”