Adferiad Recovery welcomes UK Budget announcement to increase support for veterans

Adferiad Recovery, Wales’ leading mental health and substance use charity, has welcomed the announcement in the UK Budget to provide over £30 million of extra support to veterans.

The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said the UK Government will provide an additional £33 million over the next 3 years to increase the service provided to veterans, including support for those with serious physical injury resulting from their service and increasing the availability of housing for veterans.

£20m of the funding package will support the Veteran Capital Housing Fund – a project that will provide extra housing for veterans through the development of new builds and the refurbishment of social and charitable housing for veterans.

The Veterans Mobility Fund will also be extended by £3m to provide enduring support for veterans with serious physical injuries resulting from their service.

The remaining £10m will go to the Office for Veteran’s Affairs to increase the service and engagement provided to veterans over the next two years.

Since launching in 2014, Adferiad’s ‘Change Step’ Programme has helped over 3,000 veterans and their family members, enabling them to access vital support services and help tackle serious stress and mental health related issues.

Laura Morgan, Associate Director at Adferiad and the lead for veterans’ services has said: “We fully support increasing the capacity of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs. Through our ‘Change Step’ programme we provide bespoke support to help tackle the serious stress that veterans and their families face.

“Our team of peer mentors use their own experiences to help fellow veterans and their loved ones confront significant life challenges and embark upon journeys of recovery.”