Best Practice Showcase: the Armed Forces Outreach Service

Most members of the Armed Forces have a seamless transition to civilian life. But some will experience problems which can happen straightaway or even decades after leaving service.

It can be a challenge to address veterans’ needs right along their pathway, but the Armed Forces Outreach Service based in the North East of England is leading the way in supporting veterans.

Here, we speak to Lisa McFadyen, Armed Forces Coordinator at Gateshead Council, to find out more about the work going on to reduce veterans’ homelessness.

What is the Armed Forces Outreach Service (AFOS)?

AFOS is a regional partnership between three Local Authorities and two large housing associations in the North East. We provide a dedicated service to the Armed Forces community.

We’re a collaboration between Gateshead Council, Newcastle City Council, Your Homes Newcastle, Durham County Council and Believe Housing.

Gateshead Council is the lead organisation, but the key to our success is the imperative collaborative work with our partners. We provide a holistic service across a large and diverse geographical area.

How do you support veterans?

The North East is home to a large Armed Forces community. People might want to return to the area after discharge, have family here or have been posted in the North East before and want to remain.

Our main starting point is housing. If you’re housed, other things tend to fall into place. We assist with the application process, right through from initial application to completion and securing tenancy.

But we’re much more than this. We make sure all the bits of the jigsaw fit together. We support former Armed Forces personnel and their families, right along their pathway to civilian life.

How else do you help veterans?

One of the issues we deal with for veterans is debt associated to previous property. If you have council tax or rent arrears, you can be struck off local authority housing lists. We work with service charities to address the shortfall and clear the debt.

Some veterans aren’t ready to go into employment and their CVs need boosting. We work with service charities who specialise in addressing employment, training and volunteering opportunities.

Armed Forces pensions have many caveats, like when you joined the Forces and why you’ve left. We work alongside DWP Armed Forces Champions to help veterans get the benefits and pensions they’re entitled to so they can get back on their feet.

We also tap into other local authority services, like if someone needs health and social care or assistance from the Rent and Income teams. Because we’re local authority ourselves, we’re integrated with all the different teams.

What makes AFOS different?

We tend to employ veterans or those with a connection to the Armed Forces. I’ve served myself, as have all of my staff. This means we talk the same language. As soon as we speak to a client and they realise we’ve served, the barriers come down. There’s an element of trust as we have a shared history. They don’t need to explain themselves and we know all the acronyms and have shared their experiences. It means we can work with people much more quickly and effectively.

What else helps?

From the first point of contact, the veteran has one dedicated member of staff, right through to case completion. This delivers consistency and helps build trust.

All of my team are SSAFA caseworker trained. This means we can quickly access funds for things veterans might need like white goods, carpets and cookers. As caseworkers, we can identify the need for financial assistance, initiate the case and monitor its progress right through to completion. This means there’s no delay in obtaining the assistance required for the veteran and their family.

How do you reach veterans?

We don’t wait for referrals to come to us as early intervention is key. When Covid happened, all our buildings closed. Now we’re based in our community. In this financial year alone, our referral rates have increased by 156%. This is mainly due to us changing the way we do business and becoming more of a presence in our communities, while strengthening relationships with our military colleagues.

What are you most proud of?

In the last two years, we’ve rehoused 1,558 members of the Armed Forces community. We’ve also secured over £403,000 in funds for our clients to procure items such as white goods and home furnishings, to assist with rent and mortgage arrears, to improve debt and ultimately standards of living, and benefits increases.

We’re also providing training and support to other organisations, the Armed Forces and service personnel. It’s vital we all work together to achieve better outcomes for veterans and their families.

You can hear Lisa McFadyen talk about AFOS as part of our No Homeless Veterans training. The sessions are for frontline housing staff in local authorities, housing associations and supported housing providers. Led by Homeless Link, they will help you identify veterans and better meet their housing needs. Watch the training here.