Riverside Housing

Receiving a grant of £830,790 in May 2023, Riverside’s project Ending Veteran Homelessness Together provides supported housing at The Beacon in Catterick and Mike Jackson House in Aldershot, specifically for Veterans with high and complex needs, aiding a successful transition to civilian life. Along with Hardwick House in Middlesbrough, Riverside provide 75% of the high needs provision available through the Op FORTITUDE pathway. This can include mental health, physical health, active substance misuse, offending/anti-social behaviour, or often multiple needs concurrently.

Using psychologically informed approaches, the team works with Veterans to understand the underlying drivers of the Veteran experiencing homelessness, and together they devise a programme of support to address these drivers so that the Veteran can go on to live independently and positively contribute to their community.

Since the launch of Op FORTITUDE on 3 July 2023, 23 Veterans who had received support from either The Beacon or Mike Jackson House have moved on to greater independence.

Lee Buss-Blair, Riverside’s Director of Operations and Group Veteran Lead, said: “Unlike most of the supported housing sector, Veteran supported housing was previously, predominantly, not in receipt of any government funding for support. Without support funding, both Mike Jackson House and The Beacon were only able to accept Veterans with very low support needs.

“With the funding from the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme we have been able to employ the support staff we need to effectively support Veterans with high and complex needs, meaning that the service available to this cohort of Veterans has tripled when you include our RBLI colleagues at Mountbatten Pavilion in Kent.”