News

Your veterans need you! Legion Scotland calls for volunteers

Scotland’s largest membership charity for veterans is on the lookout for volunteers to help tackle isolation and loneliness among the Armed Forces community.

Legion Scotland’s recruitment drive for its Veterans Community Support Service, which was launched last year, is asking people to spare a few hours in order to improve support for veterans and their families in the community.

Kevin Gray MM, Chief Executive Officer of Legion Scotland, said: “We have experienced a huge increase in demand for our unique service since it was launched in July 2017.

Read more

Brigadier Gareth Collett CBE Closes Tour de Troops 2018

Brigadier Gareth Collett CBE closed Tour de Troops 2018 on 12 June 2018 by celebrating the gruelling five-day cycling challenge from Land’s End to John O’Groats, at Edinburgh Castle with the participants.

The challenge saw 15 civilian and military cyclists cover 874 miles in just five day which raised money for Felix Fund, the charity supporting the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) community.

Brigadier Gareth Collett is the Senior Explosive Ordnance Engineer in the UK MOD and has been a high threat bomb disposal operator for 25 years, conducting bomb disposal duties across Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq, the Middle/Far East and East Africa.

Read more

HRH The Countess of Wessex opens new homes for Veterans in Aldershot

Thirty four brand new purpose-built homes open in Aldershot today to address the lack of housing for former members of the Armed Forces. Centenary Lodge on Evelyn Avenue will be home to a mixed community of Veterans of different ages, their partners and families. The new homes will be run by Stoll, the leading provider of housing and support for Veterans.

Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, who is Stoll’s Patron will meet some of the residents and formally open the new building.

Read more

Veterans to retain military ID, allowing easier access to services

Personnel leaving the armed forces will now be able to keep their military ID, Minister for Defence People and Veterans Tobias Ellwood has announced.

The move will allow veterans to maintain their emotional connection with the armed forces, allowing them to keep the card they have carried on them throughout their career. Retaining their ID card, known as the MOD Form 90, will also allow service leavers to be identified as veterans quickly and easily, aiding their transition into civilian life.

Read more

Armed Forces Day celebration at CASA in Stafford

To celebrate this year’s Armed Forces Week, the Staffordshire branch of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, will be holding a family fundraiser on Saturday 23 June at CASA, in Bridge Street, Stafford.

The mayor of Stafford will be officially opening the afternoon fundraiser at 12.30pm, which will include a barbeque, cake sale and entertainment from The Cannock Ex-Servicemen’s Male Voice Choir and The Military Wives Choir. There will be military memorabilia on display and the opportunity to chat to people from both the serving and ex-serving local community.

Read more

Stoll supports Crisis report and outlines plans to reduce homelessness among Veterans to zero

Responding to the report by Crisis, which sets out plans to make homelessness ‘a thing of the past’, Ed Tytherleigh said:

“We back this excellent report and agree that it’s definitely possible to end homelessness if we work together as a society to do so.

In fact we already have plans underway to eliminate homelessness among the Veterans’ community, which we hope will help the thousand plus ex-service personnel who, research shows, need urgent support each year to find accommodation.

Read more

New guide aims to improve care of ex-Service men and women in nursing homes

A new guide launched on 7th June, to help care homes provide better support for the hundreds of thousands* of service men and women in assisted living in the UK.

Produced by Demos think tank, in partnership with the Forces in Mind Trust and the Care Cluster of Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities), the guide will be sent to all UK care homes and care home provider headquarters.

Read more

£1million Milestone for Felix Fund

Felix Fund has just reached the £1million mark for funds paid out in grants to individuals and groups from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search community.

Since its launch back in April 2011 Felix Fund has been assisting serving personnel, veterans and their dependents from the bomb disposal community by providing grants for a whole host of items, help and support.

Recent examples of help given include, the provision of living expenses for a former soldier who needed to travel to Australia for pioneering surgery, after losing both legs in Afghanistan; a football wheelchair for the disabled son of a former Sapper and a specialist medical cap was provided for the baby son of a serving soldier. In addition, we have helped purchase bespoke sporting equipment for two former Sappers which then enabled them to compete in the Toronto Invictus Games last year, one of whom went on to win a silver medal.

Read more

Families of military veterans amputees call for greater support

Pioneering research has revealed that a radical new approach could improve the lives of ex-Service personnel and their families and create significant savings across the NHS.

Findings from a groundbreaking report released today (Monday, June 11), identify the need for changes in the way support is given to people with limb loss, their families and carers.

The challenge of coping with the physical and mental aspects of caring can put a tremendous strain on the family unit and they may feel lost and unsupported, the study highlights.

The project commissioned by Blesma and funded by The Forces in Mind Trust was undertaken by the Veterans and Families Institute for Military Research at Anglia Ruskin University.

Read more

Glen Art, now known as BRAVEHOUND. 

Bravehound’s Show Garden at the Gardening Scotland Show was awarded a Silver Gilt Medal.

The “All the Fields and Vales Along “ garden, inspired by Scottish poet of the First World War Charles Hamilton Sorley’s poem was designed and created by veterans and volunteers, and schoolchildren from Broxburn Academy.

Read more
Items 121 to 130 of 1557
Our Executive Members

By @Cobseo 55 years ago

Afghanistan support

In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here