Thrive Together South East

Portfolio Lead: Veterans Outreach Support (VOS)

As Portfolio Lead Organisation for the South East of England in the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund’s Thrive Together programme (formerly Veterans Places, Pathways and People – VPPP), Veterans Outreach Support (VOS) is dedicated to supporting Veterans, families, and carers across the South East of England.

In the first two years of the VPPP programme the region delivered over 8000 interactions with Veterans and provided support to approximately 3000 individual beneficiaries, developing a new, collaborative approach to veteran support services. VOS led this regional effort under the portfolio name of ‘Partnership in Mind’, so named to reflect the close cooperation and collaboration of the portfolio partners and the mental health and wellbeing improvements of those it served.

Thrive Together will continue to build upon the successes of the original VPPP programme through the provision of a network of service providers across the Op Courage South East region, linked by the common goal of improving the lives of Veterans in need. With its new emphasis on building sustainable networks, it will engage with a much greater number of partners in the statutory, third and commercial sectors to achieve a support network that can effectively support Veterans, their families and carers, regardless of their location in a truly ‘no wrong door’ way.

The Partnership in Mind Strategic Plan is based upon a wide-ranging public consultation between April and September 2024 which sought the views of those seeking support, as well as those providing it. The consultation featured workshops, surveys and focus groups with Veterans and families, as well as delivery organisations, in the South East of England. The data emerging from these forums and questionnaires was independently analysed by NCVO and a report of findings was produced, providing the golden thread for strategic planning. The strategic goals, aligned with the direction from AFCFT are as follows:

• Improve Help-Seeking Behaviour: Increase the number of Veterans and families seeking support, and reduce the stigma associated with seeking mental health support.
• Improve Holistic Support Services: Focus on mental and physical health with tailored activities and support to address the diverse needs of Veterans.
• Strengthen Support for Veterans’ Families and Carers: Enhance support services that cater to the entire family unit.

Partnership in Mind will address the above with three strands:

• Collaboration: Encourage collaboration and cooperation between service providers through joined-up, ‘no wrong door’ working.
• Capacity Building: Fill geographical and thematic gaps in support provision, especially for Veterans’ families and carers, female Veterans, Veteran members of the LGBT+ and minority communities, and transition from service to civilian life.
• Communication & Education: Deliver a comprehensive, multi-channel communications campaign aimed at educating all regional stakeholders in Veteran issues, support, and services, which will underpin the Collaboration and Capacity Building strands.

These strands will be enabled by four supporting projects:

• Collaboration & Network Project: Build network and pathways, build relationships.
• Families & Carers Support Project: Improve support for families and carers.
• Female Veterans Support Project: Encourage more females to seek support.
• Sustainability Project: Assure support beyond the funded period.

Get in touch

To find out more see https://vosuk.org/vppp/ or email admin@vosuk.org.