August 2023

We’d like to say a massive thank you to The Veterans’ Foundation and Veterans’ Lottery as we have received the amazing news that we have  been  awarded a grant!

The Grant will fund our Veterans on Probation Wellbeing Programme. This is a 6 week  programme, specifically targeted at Veterans currently engaged with the Probation Service in Warrington, Halton and Knowsley.

The programme is aimed at helping them to improve their general health and wellbeing, as well as providing tools for employment and financial planning. It will also seek to reduce social isolation, increase social contact, encourage peer engagement, and confidence building and create sustainable links between individuals and their community.

In December 2022 STF were contacted by the Head of the Probation Team in Warrington who were seeking our support to work with low to medium risk veterans on rehabilitation in the community. They told us that there is no-one who is focusing on the bespoke needs of veterans.

The STF team recently visited an Armed Forces Job Fair in Catterick and also delivered a Wellbeing Day for  soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment. We found that there is a need for the types of services we deliver and  this is a consistent message from probation services across the UK. We have designed this programme in response to this need.

We are therefore absolutely delighted to receive the financial backing to be able to fund and deliver this project. In particular, our Founder Andy Reid MBE appreciates what it means to wear a uniform and the potential adverse outcomes of transitioning to a civilian life. This ‘lived experience’ makes him uniquely qualified to understand the pressures and stresses of the people in our communities he primarily wishes to help.

Andy recently filmed a fantastic piece of video content for the Veterans’ Foundation in support of the Veterans Lottery, explaining his story. The powerful underlying message being to other veterans that he is “a survivor, not a victim”, a value that is instilled within Andy and all the work that we do here at the Foundation.

You can view the video here:

The Veterans’ Foundation Major General David Shaw describes what they do:

“The Veterans’ Foundation has been set up to help fund charities and other charitable organisations that are helping serving and former members of the Armed Forces, and their dependants, who are in need.”

“The Veterans’ Foundation raises its money through the Veterans’ Lottery and donations. Since inception in July 2016, it has given over £11 million through over 600 grants to over 300 unique organisations, many of them small to medium-sized and very worthwhile charities, which are helping members of the Armed Forces community who are in need. Forecasts indicate the Veterans’ Foundation will make grants totaling £4.4 million this financial year. The charities and other organisations we have helped include those tackling the challenges of mental and physical injuries, homelessness, unemployment, children’s loss of parents while serving and remembrance. We encourage you to spread the word.”

Our Founder Andy had this to say about the funding news:

” I am ecstatic that my Foundation has received not only funding, but also the recognition from the Veterans’ Foundation and Lottery that there is a need for our Wellbeing programme for Veterans in the probation service. Having served in the Army for a number of  years, I can fully understand the nature and complexity of the issues some of the Veterans face, and that the transition back into Civilian life can be challenging. I am extremely grateful for the support of the Veterans’ Foundation and am excited for my team to be able to deliver such a vital programme that could make a big difference.”