Veterans’ Places, Pathways and People Programme

The Veterans Places Pathways and People programme awarded ten grants of up to £800,000 to portfolios of projects, which work regionally to develop better, more joined up lasting support for local veterans with mental health needs.

The Veterans’ Places, Pathways and People programme was funded through the Veterans’ Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. It provided grants for the sustainable provision of places of safety and pathways of support across the United Kingdom.

The Trust  awarded ten portfolio grants in total and prioritised applications that clearly demonstrated a proven ability to take a co-ordinated and informed approach across their country or region. Successful applications ensured that there are connected pathways that work well for Veterans; that there are safe places for Veterans to go that 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.

Additional information is available from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust here.

Cobseo’s role within the VPPP Programme

Cobseo is one of the Strategic Leads for the VPPP Programme alongside

• The Association of Service Drop-In Centres (ASDIC),
• Combat Stress, and
• SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity.

Cobseo provided a single point of contact in the coordination of regional and sector needs through our engagement with the other sector leads and portfolio leads as part of the Strategic Lead Group. Cobseo encouraged and promoted collaborative effort amongst Members and grant recipients, whilst discouraging and reducing duplication in order to simplify the delivery of support to beneficiaries.

Examples of good practice were identified and promulgated throughout the programme, and the Cobseo VPPP staff members were available to connect potential projects to Portfolio Leads throughout the programme.

The Cobseo Cluster structure was also being utilised to encourage improvement in Members’ efficiency and effectiveness through greater co-operation, and ensured that all Members were able to link with each other to share information and address common issues to improve best practice and long-term sustainability. 

Would you like to find out more?

Combat Stress have developed the VPPP Veterans Mental Health Collaborative Learning Platform, which hosts more information and training for VPPP projects. To find out more, please click the link below:

Registration for Combat Stress Learning and Development Platform