Home > The Armed Forces community > Wider sources of support

Wider sources of support

Further information about support services for serving personnel and their families and veterans and their families is available.

Wider sources of support for you, as a member of the Armed Forces community, also includes:

Royal Navy Family and People Support (RN FPS) / Army and RAF HIVEs Information Centres

The network of RN FPS/HIVEs, both within the UK and abroad, serves as a vital point of contact for the Armed Forces community, including Service personnel, whether Regular or Reservists, veterans, family members, and MOD civilian staff.

RN FPS/HIVEs are the focal point in providing an extensive range of information and support services, covering areas such as relocation, accommodation, deployment support, health & wellbeing, employment & training opportunities, and early years & education.

RN FPS/HIVEs are there to support our people and their families by providing timely and accurate information and assistance.

Information Officers are not trained in welfare counselling; however, they are able to offer initial support to individuals and can facilitate referrals to appropriate professional internal and external services. All staff adhere to a Code of Confidentiality

Royal Navy

Army

RAF

Covenant Champions

In local government

Some local authorities appoint one of their elected members and/or a council employee as Armed Forces Champion, to be a point of contact in the organisation that members of the Armed Forces community can contact for assistance or advice. Please contact your local authority to find out who this is. In Wales, the Armed Forces Liaison Officers also provide a point of contact for the Armed Forces community.

Within the Armed Forces

If you’re a unit Covenant Champion, your role is to help spread the message about the Covenant within your unit, provide advice to command, and highlight any issues to the MOD Covenant Team via our Contact us form.

Here are some things to help!

Support for veterans

Poster advertising support available through the Veterans Gateway

The Veterans’ Gateway is the first point of contact for veterans seeking support.

News story: New Gateway to help veterans get support on civvy street

Veterans UK is MOD’s dedicated veterans support organisation. It provides assistance on many issues, including MOD’s injury and bereavement compensation schemes, Armed Forces pensions, benefits, housing and welfare.

You can also contact the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees, who serve and support ex-servicemen and women, their widows or widowers and their immediate family members.

Families Federations

Each Service has an independent Families Federation, which can offer you support and advice. They work with your Service and every level of Government as your advocate, meeting regularly with key Government departments including the Ministry of Defence, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, Department for Health and Social Care, and the Home Office.

Charities

Some of the charities that support the Armed Forces are listed below. These charities can give advice and support to serving personnel, their families, the bereaved and veterans.

  • Cobseo – The Confederation of Service Charities: a single point of contact for interactions with all levels of government, the Royal Household, the private sector and the Armed Forces community.
  • The Royal British Legion: lifelong support for the Armed Forces community.
  • SSAFA (The Armed Forces Charity): the UK’s oldest national tri-service military charity.
  • The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC): principal charity for the Royal Navy, supporting sailors, marines and their families in and out of service.
  • The Army Benevolent Fund: key charity for Army personnel, veterans and their families, providing support to 70,000 people in 45 countries.
  • The RAF Benevolent Fund: providing practical, emotional and financial support to members of the RAF family for over 100 years.
  • Forces Employment Charity: the charity providing life-long support, job opportunities and training to service leavers, veterans, reservists and their families.
  • Help for Heroes: leading UK Armed Forces charity, providing support and assistance to veterans and their families.
  • Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT): charity which funds targeted, conceptually sound, evidence generation and influencing activities to achieve real policy change for the benefit of all ex-Service personnel and their families.
  • Stoll: the leading provider of supported housing to vulnerable veterans.
  • The War Widows Association: charity that works to improve the conditions of War Widows and their dependents in Great Britain.
  • Blesma: for all serving and ex-servicemen and women who have experienced the loss of limb, use of limbs, hearing, sight or speech, either during or after service.

You can search for a Service charity using the Cobseo search directory.

Citizens Advice

The Citizens Advice Bureau provides information for service personnel in or leaving the Armed Forces. They provide advice on:

  • Benefits and entitlements
  • Healthcare
  • Housing
  • Armed Forces Pensions

Veterans and Families’ Directory of Services (VFDS)

An easy-to-use application to help organisations and front-line staff that work with and support veterans and military families has been launched by Northumbria University, working with the Ministry of Defence. The Veterans and Families Directory of Services (VFDS) helps the user to locate services that are available in their area. These have been grouped into categories such as Education and Training, Employment, Finances, etc. This invaluable resource also provides an option to feedback about the services being offered at a location, plus a button that takes the user directly to the self-help page of the Veterans’ Gateway.

Moving between devolved administrations and returning from overseas

View Welcome guides for service personnel and their families moving between devolved administrations and returning from overseas.

Support groups

Find out about the Family Support Groups available to you and your family.

Find your local Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club. If there isn’t one near you, the AFVBC will help you set one up.

Support for Ministry of Defence cadet forces and adult volunteers

The Ministry of Defence sponsors and supports five cadet forces (voluntary youth organisations). The cadet forces are based on the traditions, values and standards of their parent Service but they are not part of the Armed Forces. Therefore, they are not covered on this website. Support is available via the Ministry of Defence cadet forces guidance.

  • If you have a query or comment about the Armed Forces Covenant and wish to receive a response, please use the Contact Us form.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.