Frequently Asked Questions
Why will only a limited number of grants be awarded?
We are keen to ensure these grants are transformational and deliver systemic change that lasts well beyond the life of the grant.
We ran a survey and a series of round table discussions in 2022/23. People told us that it was important to ensure that projects were adequately resourced to deliver transformational, sustainable change.
This is why we are offering grants of up to £300,000.
We are also enabling these grants to be spent over a period of up to five years. Enabling grants to deliver their activities for a longer period of time was an important topic raised in our consultation activities
Why is there a two stage application process?
We will be making complex grants to large projects. The expression of interest stage ensures that all organisations wishing to apply do not have to complete the detailed application form. Only a small number of applications with the strongest likelihood of success will be invited to submit a full application. We will assess the expressions of interest (and later, the full applications) against the criteria in our guidance.
Can you give an example of thematic areas where there is a strong evidence base that people with specific needs linked to mental health or other challenges do not currently have access to specific services that meet their needs?
There could be many examples of this and you would have to provide evidence of who this group is and why current service provision is not meeting their specific needs as members of the Armed Forces community. You will find on our website details of the grants we awarded for this programme in 2022/23, but please note that is unlikely that grants will be awarded to address exactly the same themes in 2023/24.
The community that our project is seeking to work with has had limited opportunities to engage in formal consultations and we will need time and resource to work with this community to develop a full understanding of their barriers to accessing existing services, and to co-design a way forward. Could we do these activities in the first year of the grant?
Yes – you will need to give us evidence as to why you need to undertake these activities, but eligible activities include detailed scoping and consultation activities within the first year of the grant.
On other grant funding programmes charities need to have existed for three years. Why is this programme different?
The Transformational Grants programme will make a very small number of grants for projects that will deliver systemic change to specific groups of people within Armed Forces communities who cannot currently access the services or support that they need. It will support innovative projects that have a national focus and can evidence that the project will deliver long term systemic change for specific, unmet needs within Armed Forces communities. It may be appropriate to consider funding applications from a range of organisations to identify projects that best meet the programme aims. If a newer organisation were to apply, they may be subject to additional monitoring requirements. There is more information in the programme guidance.
Awards made
| Year awarded | Programme | Funder | Organisation name | Project title | Project description | Project location | Grant amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Brooke House Health and Wellbeing Centre | Transformational Nature-based Prescriptions | Brooke House will work with the Defence Gardens Scheme to deliver the Transformational Natural Prescriptions (TNP); with activities for veterans underway in all four nations of the UK. The project will trial and evaluate new ways of providing evidence based, Nature Based Therapy (NBT) programmes for military veterans. The project aims to develop new future pathways to nature-based support for veterans where this may make a significant difference to their recovery. Through this project, they seek to better understand the impact and cost effectiveness for NBT programmes for veterans, and the role that NBT can play within future Social Prescribing policy. | Northern Ireland | 276,663.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | The Children's Society | Young Carers Champions for Change | This project will work with young carers from the Armed Forces community to make significant long-term changes to how young carers within serving families can access support. The project will work directly with a group of young carers over the life of the project who will bring their lived experience to build a deeper understanding of the specific challenges faced by young carers with Service families. It will develop resources that could lead to better future support for young people who provide care to others in their family. The project will disseminate the tools and learning from this project widely. This work will complement related provision for families already in place and bridge gaps between Armed Forces families, Armed Forces Welfare Services, local authority and voluntary sector support and local young carers services. | England/London | 300,000.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | FearFree | The Military DVPP programme | This project provides transformational behavioural change support and skills for the perpetrators of domestic abuse (DA). The project will work with Army Welfare and specialist children’s and mental health organisations. They will develop a pilot approach in a community with a significant military population, which will enable perpetrators to address and stop their abusive behaviours and rebuild their lives and that of their family. The findings from this pilot project, which will be evaluated, will be shared more widely with the aim of developing better pathways of care in future for Armed Forces families. | England/South West | 297,750.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | RMA-The Royal Marines Charity | Building Collaboration and Consensus | Building on their earlier ‘Lifting the Lid’ project, this new work seeks to work collaboratively across the Armed Forces charity sector to develop a Common Assessment Framework that helps identify the holistic needs of the beneficiary and their family. This project will build on their findings from the One Is Too Many project; and will also encapsulate the Northumbria University findings and recommendations from their narrative study. An agreed Common Assessment Framework will enable earlier interventions as well as identify those at risk of suicidal thoughts or feelings. It will also and ensure that veterans can get the right help when they need it. The project will build collaborative partnerships across organisations supporting the veteran community. Through sharing data, current best practice and evidence-based findings with partners, they intend to develop a consensus and a template that can be used to fully understand the complexity of need and support veterans’ through earlier intervention, enhancing positive outcomes and promoting recovery, belonging and purpose. | England/South West | 300,000.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Supporting Wounded Veterans Ltd. | Transforming Negative Transition | Project delivered/partially delivered, with some funding not used | England/London | 288,299.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Swansea University | Look Back to Move Forward | This project seeks to develop new and better ways of identifying and supporting veterans whose lives are impacted by harmful gambling. The project will work with veterans to develop a new timeline-based assessment of harmful gambling, alcohol use and mental health. It will identify when in a veteran’s Service journey their addictive and mental health challenges arose and help chart progress through treatment and support. This work aims to develop an assessment toolkit, which can be used in non- clinical settings to help veterans to identify when gambling has become harmful, and to support veterans to receive the right help. | Wales | 299,971.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity | Strengthening Families: Neuro-diversity | This project will work with Armed Forces families who have neuro-diverse children, where their needs may be hidden and the support that they receive can be experienced as inconsistent. It will transform the way RNRM families are supported by developing a ‘community of experience’, peer-to-peer support, navigation, practical support backed by a collaborative partnership using knowledge, evidence and the lived experience to drive ongoing, enduring improvement. They will work with others to share the learning of their work, especially where this can help to improve outcomes for neuro diverse children within the wider Service community. | England/South East | 300,000.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Naval Children's Charity | Thriving through childhood and beyond | This project, delivered in partnership with The Service Children’s Progression (SCiP) Alliance, will deliver tri-Service benefits for all Armed Forces families with children in early years education or higher education. It builds on the Alliance’s earlier work which developed the Thriving Lives Toolkit - widely used to support improved educational outcomes for Service Pupils in primary and secondary education. It will develop and share further toolkits for younger and older age groups and ensure wide reach throughout the UK. It will develop a coherent quality standard for the entire sector and create a rigorous evidence-base for policy and practice development. | England/South East | 299,568.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Tom Harrison House | Tom Harrison House - Female Veterans Project | The grant will support a pilot project designed to lead to better treatment and care for female veterans with addictions. This project will test new models for engagement and support; and will inform the development of new health services for female veterans. In the longer term, this project aims to make a significant contribution to the understanding of specific issues that affect female veterans’ recovery from addiction and will develop good practice that will be shared more widely | England/North West | 300,000.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Women’s Royal Army Corps Association (WRACA) | Female Veterans Transformation Programme | This project aims to deliver long-term systemic change for female veterans by working collaboratively across the Armed Forces charity sector, developing good practice through a toolkit to reduce barriers for female veterans accessing services, and ensuring that specific needs of female veterans are considered in future service design. This project aims in the longer term to increase uptake of veteran-focused services by female veterans, and significantly improve outcomes for women in areas including mental/physical health, employment, housing and financial stability. Their work will encompass both newly transitioned and older female veterans. | England/South East | 300,000.00 |
| 2023 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Fighting With Pride | LGBT+ Veterans, Lost and Found | 'Lost and Found' will enable the development of services that can meet the needs of LGBT+ Veterans, which are welcoming, confident in their delivery and can meet identified needs. The project involves specialist outreach to find LGBT+ veterans not yet found and connect them to organisations that can help. | England/South East | 200,000.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Age Cymru Dyfed | Building Stronger Futures for Older-Veterans | Funding will allow the organisation to develop and implement a systemic national model, transforming identification and support for older veterans aged 50-100+yrs within both Statutory and third Sectors. This focused, collaborative project will produce tangible and measurable outcomes, including the delivery of bespoke e-learning seeking to improve working practices, including referral pathways and highlighting local networks for support. | Wales | 299,849.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Burnley FC in the Community | Sports Charity Champions for Military Veteran Projects | Burnley FC in the Community will expand their Armed Forces Sports Club Champion programme to share best practice, level up existing provision, mentor and guide the sports charity sector in delivering quality projects for the armed forces community throughout the UK. This programme builds on the success of the organisation's work under the VPPP programme, including the creation of a toolkit to assist in how the Sports Club Champions can effectively engage the armed forces community in activities. | UK-wide | 300,000.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Combat Stress | Cultivating Hope & Trauma Informed Services & Blueprint for Success [new name] | This is a combined project to be delivered between Combat Stress and ASDIC. It will deliver better support to veterans, their families and the organisations that support them, through offering enhanced access to training and raising awareness among key groups. The partnership will offer engaging resources targeted towards smaller organisations, while also offering new forms of support as required. | UK-wide | 600,000.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Centre for Military Research Education and Public Engagement, Edinburgh Napier University | AFFIRM - Planning for the Unplanned | Funding will allow the organisation to work with unplanned Public Sector services across Scotland - including A&E departments, the fire service and the police - to improve understanding of the veteran community. They will evaluate interventions, enhance partnership working and promote training about the Covenant and the support and care available to veterans. AFFIRM will ensure that key responders record when someone has served and facilitate connection to the appropriate support systems available. | Scotland | 299,674.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | The REME Charity | Service Charities Equality Insights Programme | In collaboration with the Eleanor Glanville Institute, the organisation will deliver the Service Charities Equality Insights Programme (SCEIP), which uses inclusive and intersectional lived-data to reduce inequalities and diversify the outreach and impact of Service Charity programmes. This will help to build a better understanding of veteran needs (particularly veterans from ethnic and faith minorities) and inspire a more inclusive approach to support programme design, development and provision. | UK-wide | 300,000.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | Scottish Action for Mental Health | No More Shame | SAMH, along with SeeMe and Combat Stress, will work with female veterans to take forward a project that tackles stigma and supports more ex-service women to get the support they need. A core aim will be to dismantle the barriers preventing female veterans from accessing crucial mental health support by amplifying their voices, addressing stigma and nurturing systemic change. | Scotland | 273,125.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | The Scar Free Foundation | Intimate Scarring: Veterans' Psychological Support | Partnering with the CASEVAC Club of wounded veterans, this project aims to understand and alleviate the impact of conflict-related genital scarring and loss-of-function. It will develop evidence-based interventions to diminish the shame, stigma and embarrassment surrounding these injuries and empower current and future veterans to forge fulfilling intimate relationships post-injury. | UK-wide | 300,000.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association – Forces Help | Transformation of Support to Veterans | SSAFA will use funding to deliver a pilot evaluation model in the East Midlands to transform the casework support provided to veterans and their families with mental health/wellbeing needs. The organisation will move from a wholly volunteer-led service to one overseen and managed by staff, delivered by volunteers. This will allow for a more joined-up service with improved data capture which is overall more effective in having a positive impact on the military community and the wider military and non-military charity sector. | UK-wide | 300,000.00 |
| 2024 | Transformational Grant | Covenant Fund | DEFENCE MEDICAL WELFARE SERVICE (DMWS) | Reaching underrepresented Armed Forces groups | This project aims to improve equality, diversity and inclusion for underrepresented armed forces communities across the UK, incorporating ethincity, gender, sexual orientation and more. It will seek to understand barriers to good health and wellbeing outcomes, identify needs and develop and share best practices to promote equitable access to services for these cohorts and make tangible improvements. | UK-wide | 293,829.00 |