Have your say in our new consultation: help us shape a great new Local Grants programme!

January 13, 2020

13th January to 6 March

The Armed Forces Covenant: Local Grants programme has successfully supported hundreds of projects over the past five years, strengthening our Armed Forces community both in terms of integration and delivery of local services.

It’s now time for us to consider what the biggest needs of the Armed Forces community currently are – and we want you to tell us!

Why are we consulting?

Our open consultation, seeking feedback from the Armed Forces community and those who support them, will help us shape a new programme for at least the next two years, based on real needs and priorities at a local level.

As well as using the results for a new local programme, your feedback will inform our overall priority for 2020 of Integration and Engagement.

Your views are vital in helping us to get this right and deliver the most effective grant making we can.

So, what do we mean by Integration and Engagement?

We’ll be focussing on:

  • Funding projects that reduce isolation, particularly for veterans and Armed Forces families
  • Funding projects that support local co-ordination and joining up of local projects and services

Why have we chosen these priorities?

Isolation and loneliness affect young and older people. Research shows:

  • almost a fifth of the UK population say they are always or often lonely (British Red Cross and Co-op)
  • two fifths of older people say the TV is their main company (Age UK)
  • for veterans, there is increasing evidence that isolation and loneliness is a problem, with research suggesting a need to help link veterans with existing community and civilian services.
  • our own experiences through grants we have made tells us that isolation can also be an issue amongst Armed Forces families, particularly where the serving member is deployed or when the family moves to a new area.

Have your say!

We want you to help shape future funding. To do this, we need you to tell us:

  • who you feel is most in need of support?
  • what types of project you think should receive funding
  • how big grant awards should be under a local programme
  • how we can best make these grants in order to male funding accessible to those who need it

Consultation closes 6 March 2020.