Thrive Together North West

Portfolio Lead: Armed Forces Community HQ (AFCHQ)

During the initial delivery of the Veterans’ Places, Pathways & People (VPPP) Programme (2022-2023), a Portfolio of Partners was formed in the North West representing a wealth of services across the region; the Forces Wellbeing Collective.

Armed Forces Community HQ is pleased to be continuing as the Portfolio Lead under the Thrive Together Programme (2024-2027) and has conducted a comprehensive public consultation with professionals and service users across the region to inform the development of a strategic delivery plan and goals that will support the programme mission and expected outcomes.

In total, 112 professionals and 389 service users were engaged, and responses were analysed alongside other key pieces of research to identify insights, themes and recommendations.

AFCHQ identified the following cross-cutting themes throughout the North West consultation:

• Awareness (service users and professionals)
• Accessibility (practical e.g. location, transport, cost, timing etc and psychosocial e.g. pride/embarrassment)
• Collaboration (meaningful partnerships and information sharing)
• Diversity (generational differences/age gaps and marginalised groups)

Considering these cross-cutting themes and alongside the Thrive Together Programme outcomes, the North West strategic goals are to:

• Level up provision and pathways through a sustainable, resilient and assured network of cross-sector organisations in the North West; the Forces Wellbeing Collective
• Improve awareness of support services, projects and activities for all members of the Armed Forces community
• Reduce stigma associated with and improve help-seeking behaviour in members of the Armed Forces community
• Champion Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• Promote innovation and continuous improvement to reduce duplication and build capacity within the Armed Forces not-for-profit sector

A range of thematic areas and commissioned targeted projects have been identified that have demonstrable outputs to level up provision for the Armed Forces community and share best practice as part of cross-sector collaboration in the North West. This includes the following areas: Community Care; Community Mental Health Practitioners; Education; Elderly Care Pathways; Equity, Diversity & Inclusion; Families & Carers; Marketing; Reservists; Sports Clubs; Substance Use & Addictions; Suicide Prevention; Volunteer Ambassadors.

As part of the sustainability and legacy development in the first iteration of VPPP, the Forces Wellbeing Collective was launched as a network of professionals, volunteers and cross-sector organisations joining forces to improve the wellbeing of the Armed Forces community in the North West. AFCHQ will continue to coordinate and develop the regional network as the primary mechanism to implement the strategic goals and will also work with key partners to implement additional resources focusing on community capacity building that will ensure lasting impact for service users and sustainability for the wider sector.

Membership is free and open to all, and inclusive of key benefits such as; feature and promotion on digital platform and service map; regular schedule of networking and marketplace events; regular updates on industry news, research and opportunities via newsletter; training and development; ongoing mentoring and expert friends; access to toolkits and resources; and access to Communities of Practice.

For more information and to register interest visit www.forceswellbeing.org or email info@forceswellbeing.org.