WELFARE SUPPORT WORKER

The Welfare Support Worker is part of the Welfare team and is the initial point of contact for LGBT veterans seeking assistance with a reparation process, claiming medals, and pensions by telephone, online and in person. The Welfare Support Worker will assist veterans with claims, benefits and other issues, raise awareness of the challenges faced by veterans affected by the ban internally, to VPPP, delivery partners, and external agencies, liaising with all as appropriate.

Veterans Outreach Support (VOS) is a UK registered charity that offers welfare, wellbeing, mental health and substance misuse recovery support and services to veterans of the UK Armed Forces and the Merchant Navy and their partners in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight. Support ranges from telephone and face to face welfare advice to peer-supported activity and social groups, mental health support and therapies, and substance misuse recovery support. Monthly Drop-Ins in Portsmouth and Newport (IOW) also bring together a wide range of delivery partners and other charities for the provision of comprehensive one-stop shop welfare, wellbeing, and mental health support for service users, in a warm and friendly environment.

Veterans Places, Pathways, and People (VPPP) Programme in the South-East of England. The purpose of the programme is to bring together a portfolio of veteran’s support projects that will take an informed approach across the region. It ensures that there are connected pathways which work well for veterans; that there are safe places for veterans to go which connect into these pathways; and that volunteers and staff who support veterans have access to training and work closely with other organisations within veterans’ mental health pathways. In VOS’s VPPP portfolio named ‘Partnership in Mind’ there are nine project partners managed by the Portfolio Manager, who is located with Veterans Outreach Support.

Welcome Home is a project, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund, aimed at assisting Armed Forces veterans who were affected by the ban on homosexuality in the Armed Forces between 1967 and 2000.  The recently published report provides for veterans to apply for compensation and return of medals.  Additionally, Welcome Home aims to bring those who have felt isolated by their experience into the veteran community.