Over £3.3 million awarded in latest round of Covenant Fund awards
The Armed Forces Covenant Trust (the Trust) is delighted to announce over £3.3 million has been awarded in the latest series of grants made under the Covenant Fund.
The Trust has supported a total of 34 fantastic projects across four different Covenant Fund programmes, all set to make significant improvements for Armed Forces communities across the UK.
- Service Women: Seen & Heard has awarded over £700K to eight projects tackling the underlying issues unique to serving women, providing improved access to support for their mental and physical health and wellbeing.
- Free From Fear has awarded just over £700K to five projects addressing domestic abuse through preventative measures or providing support routes for survivors in Armed Forces communities.
- Serving Families: On the Move has awarded just over £1M to 11 projects helping to improve the quality of life for Service families impacted by relocation.
- Embedding Prevention of Veteran Suicide has awarded just over £860K to 10 projects enabling systemic change and long-term, sustainable impact, building on the findings from the One is Too Many programme.
Trust CEO, Anna Wright, said: “These grants respond to some of the most complex issues and experiences facing different groups in the Armed Forces community, and the learning from these projects will underpin and inform future approaches. Our three-year framework for our grant making was all about reflecting the priorities and ways of working which came through so strongly from individuals, families, organisations and experts who took part in the consultation and research work – and it's wonderful to see funding now flowing out to projects across the country as a result."
The Covenant Fund three-year framework
Developed through learning from previous Covenant programmes, the findings of a comprehensive consultation the Trust conducted in 2023, and broader research, including an in-depth literature review, our current three-year Covenant Funding framework offers programmes that support the delivery of the Nation's Covenant promise to our Armed Forces, Veterans, and their families.
The framework is built around themes of improving quality of life; ensuring that Armed Forces communities are not disadvantaged; supporting those in need of special consideration and understanding complex needs and identifying solutions.
The Trust is delighted to announce this latest series of awards, which are the first grants made under these new Covenant Fund programmes.
Empowering Servicewomen
The Trust has allocated over £700,000 through the Service Women: Seen & Heard programme to eight projects focused on providing targeted support for serving women, while enhancing access to specialist support pathways that allow for self-referral.
These projects are designed to empower Service women to make informed decisions and enable access to resources that improve their health and wellbeing, both preventatively and in response to specific needs. This includes therapeutic support for Service women who have experienced trauma; a programme of support for women who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, post-natal depression and domestic abuse; activities to address loneliness and isolation and strengthen mental resilience; and the development of an online wellbeing network.
Addressing domestic abuse
Free From Fear aims to address domestic abuse within Armed Forces communities through preventative measures and support routes for survivors.
Five projects have received a share of just over £700,000 with the aim of making it easier for victims and survivors to both report abuse and access the support and advice they need. This includes partnering with statutory services, raising awareness of this issue and providing specialist support to the military community.
Improving quality of life for those impacted by relocation
Serving Families: On the Move aims to improve the quality of life for Service families who are impacted by relocation as a direct result of Service life. The Trust are delighted to have awarded over £1 million to 11 fantastic projects which cover a wide variety of support including a relocation support hub providing access to essential resources; a book club for military partners/spouses to provide connection through shared reading; and bringing families with young children together in outdoor spaces to build friendships through play and nature exploration.
Supporting vulnerable Veterans and those who care for them
The first round of the Embedding Prevention of Veterans Suicide programme has awarded just over £860,000 to 10 projects across the UK which will work to enable systemic change and create long-term, sustainable impact in Veteran suicide prevention. Incorporating key finding from the Trust's 'One is Too Many programme, these funded projects will improve support for those working with vulnerable Veterans and will address mental health, help-seeking and stigma within the Armed Forces community.
Projects include peer mentor training in Wales; specialist housing and financial support in Scotland; and a UK-wide Veterans' sheds project with a focus on connecting, creating and conversing.
Find out more
For a full list of all awardees from this round of the Hidden Voices programme, visit the Trust's website www.covenantfund.org.uk
Keep up to date with funding opportunities
For the latest updates and announcements on each of these Covenant Fund programmes, and any other funding opportunities the Trust has available throughout the year, sign up to their e-newsletter via their website www.covenantfund.org.uk