29/10/2025
Veterans Deserve More Than Signposting
The North East’s Support Gap
Are We Truly Honouring Our Veterans or Just Sending Them in Circles?
As Remembrance Sunday approaches, it’s time to confront a difficult question: are we truly honouring our veterans or simply signposting them from one service to another?
Across the UK, there’s no shortage of helplines, websites, and referral networks claiming to support former service personnel. They form a vast national web of contact points excellent at telling veterans where to go, but far less effective at ensuring help actually arrives. Nowhere is this more evident than here in the North East.
The 73% Reality
A YouGov survey (May 2025) commissioned by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs revealed that 73% of UK veterans believe local support is “insufficient.” They don’t want another phone number; they want joined-up, coordinated care that truly meets their needs.
The North East reflects and often exceeds this national shortfall. Postcode-level data shows deep inequality in access to support. Local charities like Anxious Minds are witnessing rising isolation, chronic underfunding, and fragmented services that leave veterans trapped in crisis, passed between agencies with no clear resolution.
VALOUR: A Step Forward, Still Finding Its Feet
The government’s £50 million VALOUR Network, announced in May 2025, aims to change that. A northern pilot, including the North East, launched on 26 June 2025, connecting charities, councils, and NHS partners to share data and coordinate housing, health, and employment support.
It’s a promising blueprint for national rollout in 2026. But for now, it remains in its infancy progress is slow, and many veterans are still waiting for tangible results.
VALOUR sits alongside the £3.5 million Homelessness Prevention Fund and Op ASCEND, the new veterans’ career service launched in February 2025. These are important initiatives, but they’re still not enough to fill the gaps today.