South Coast veterans call on government for support in transition to civilian life
Veterans say a lack of accessible housing is forcing some former service personnel into homelessness
Veterans across the South Coast are calling for more funding to help make the transitional period from service to civilian life smoother.
It comes after we spoke to personnel in Gosport earlier this year who said a lack of accessible housing is forcing some veterans to become homeless.
Sergeant William Dawe's telling us about a current project that he'd like to see supported on a larger scale, as he says more support is needed for transitional periods.
He said: "As my role, I'm a recruiter for the reserves, which I do full-time.
"Myself and a local soldier, ex SAS soldier, Phil Campion, who is a Southampton boy, we're trying to champion the veterans community, but in order to do so, we thought of bringing in our own mini project, bringing in that connection between regular to reserve to civvy street.
"A regular soldier might have done a few years and may not consider joining the reserves.
"What we're trying to say is that it might be quite daunting at the end of a very long career, to just step into civvy street, particularly if you joined at a young age, where everything in your life has been the army."
Homelessness concerns amongst veterans
Veterans at a meet with Wes Streeting MP earlier this month also told us their concerns around housing.
Earlier this year, we spoke to veterans in Gosport a Salisbury-based charity warned of a growing bed blocking crisis in its assisted living accommodations.
The charity says a lack of suitable and available housing is holding them back, which is causing a blockage in the system and preventing others from accessing the help they need.
Alabaré CEO, Andrew Lord, said the charity is finding the traditional pathway, which will see a person progress from living in a hostel, to low support accommodation and then independence, is failing because of the housing crisis.
"The issue is if the low support accommodation or the permanent accommodation is not available, people are held in the wrong part of the housing pathway and that means they stay too long in accommodation when they're ready to move on," he said.
Sergeant William Dawe told us his thoughts on the issue.
He said: "Both civilians and obviously former service personnel, homelessness for both communities is a bad thing.
"I've always been a strong advocate that nobody should be without a home or a roof over their head.
"I think the scheme by the Prime Minister to have everyone under a roof for Christmas is a bold move.
"I think it's going to be a tough thing to pull off, but you've got to be seen to be trying because it is a very good idea.
"Nobody should be homeless, not at any time in the year, let alone Christmas."
Sergeant Dawe told us the handrail service would also help with further support.
He said: "I wasn't homeless as such, but I was one of those sofa surfers back in 2010 after my marriage failed.
"I was sofa surfing for a couple of months and I got myself pretty low because it's not natural to live like that.
"I got lucky in the end, I got a flat and everything else, but not all the lads and lasses have the opportunity to do that.
"But if they're in the reserves, knowing enough people from all different backgrounds to either give them a job, even if it's temporary in civvy street.
"Then also be able to be part of the armed forces, where we can signpost the support they could have.
"It's got to be an easier transition than just come out straight away."
Government plans
Wes Streeting MP, the Secretary of State for Defence, visited veterans at Southampton Veterans' Trust.
We asked him what he planned to do around homelessness concerns amongst veterans.
He said: "As a government, we are investing more in housing overall, and we've made some big commitments to increase the number of homes, particularly council housing in our country.
"But we've also got a big challenge when it comes to our veterans.
"We think there are around two thousand veterans who are homeless across the country, but we also fear that is an underestimate.
"There's lots of unreported homelessness, there's lots of sofa surfing going on, and those are problems we need to address, too.
"So our approach is to increase the supply of housing.
"We're doing that, both within the defence estate itself, but also more broadly, in towns and cities across the country.
"We've also got to make sure that for those veterans who find themselves homeless or at risk of homelessness; that we're intervening early, identifying the challenges they face, and giving them the personal support they need to get off the streets, and into a home that they can call their own.
"That is particularly important in the context of the Prime Minister's determination to get rough sleepers off the streets in time for Christmas."