Outreach Service
Rossendale Veterans Outreach Service
VIA has established a Veterans Outreach Service in Rossendale, East Lancashire.
This outreach service will engage with Veterans and their dependants (the Armed Forces Community) in Rossendale and the surrounding areas to provide Information, advice and guidance on a number of issues that affect our community during the transition to ‘civvy street'. This service is run by Veterans themselves and through their experiences they understand the difficulties a great many Veterans can experience re-integrating back into their communities after they have left the Armed Forces.
VIA have three outreach locations, Bacup, Haslingden and Rawtenstall. These outreach services will run between 1100 and 1500 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and will engage with the Veterans and their dependants within their local community. We are building further links in the Wirral and Oldham areas.
We are attending the Combat Stress outreach sessions in Manchester, Bury and Leigh. Some of these veterans have already joined us on the Hadrian's Wall walk in October and are part of the North-West fund raising team. This year we have started to meet Veterans in Accrington session.
Haslingden Community Link & Children's Centre
Bury Road,
Haslingden,
Rossendale,
BB4 5PG
Mondays, between 1100 - 1500
REAL
8 St James Square
Bacup
OL13 9AA
Wednesdays, between 1100 - 1500
Rawtenstall
Venue to be confirmed in New Year
Why does Rossendale and East Lancashire need this service for the Veterans?
The Armed Forces Community have identified a number of key issues when making the transition to Civvy Street:
• A great many Veterans do not know how to access local services.
• The services they have accessed do not understand the needs of the Armed Forces Community.
• The Armed Force Community can feel isolated in their communities
• The Veteran does not know what benefits and services they are entitled to
• They miss the comradeship they once had during their military service and just sharing experiences with like minded people.
• The training they received during their military career isn't recognised once they have left the Armed Forces.
Why did VIA identify Rossendale and East Lancashire as our first Veterans Outreach Service?
Each year over 6000 service leavers will return to the North-west and this will increase with the further cuts to the Armed Forces have to make.
Around a third of all recruitment for the Armed Forces is done in the North-West.
There are over 4.5 million Veterans in the UK and with their dependants the number is in excess of 15 million. Within East Lancashire the Armed Forces Community could be as high 1 in 3. There are no accurate statistics as very few agencies gather this information at the moment.
East Lancashire has a great many outdoor activities available to Veterans and VIA can develop the ALIVE Program further.
What a Veteran can expect from this service
VIA's Outreach Services will provide a sign posting service to a number of organisations working in the local area:
• Royal British Legion (RBL)
• SSAFA Forces Help
• PCT (Primary Care Trust) Military Veterans Service
• Lancashire Care Trust
• Combat Stress
• The Poppy Factory for employment opportunities
• SPVA
• Alcohol and Drug services
• Community Volunteer Services (CVS) for volunteering opportunities.
• Local colleges and training providers
Veterans can also join the ALIVE Program and join the fundraising team.
For Further information:
Contact Bob Elliott on 07961554006 or email bobelliott@veteransinaction.org.uk
