New video explains support available to veterans
A video to help veterans learn about the support available to them has been published on YouTube by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA)
The SPVA's Veterans Today series of videos are available on YouTube [Picture: SPVA]
The five-minute video is designed to raise awareness of the one-to-one help provided by the UK’s Veterans Welfare Service to anyone who has served in the Armed Forces.
The video has been released by the SPVA and is the latest in the Agency’s ‘Veterans Today’ series. It shows how welfare support is provided automatically to those medically discharged and those bereaved by Service, with an ‘on request’ service for all other members of the veterans community, including dependents and families.
The SPVA is part of the Ministry of Defence and provides vital support services for the Armed Forces and the veterans community. These include pensions and compensation for injury/disablement or death due to Service, Armed Forces occupational pensions, the regional Veterans Welfare Service (VWS), the Veterans-UK helpline, and the issue of all medals for service dating back to the Second World War.
The video also explains the origins of the VWS nearly a century ago, when its role was to look after the welfare needs of First World War casualties and Service widows and orphans, through to its current role in helping those affected by operations in Afghanistan.
The video, which can be seen at Related Links, explains how the VWS has retained its core principles whilst adapting to a much wider role as part of the Government’s commitments under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Alison Davies, Manager of the Veterans Welfare Service for the UK and Ireland, said:
The Veterans Welfare Service has been providing help and support to the veterans community for almost 100 years and through two world wars. Our more recent work includes helping those who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq but we are still here for veterans of any age, no matter when or for how long they served.
This video will really help raise awareness of our services, and I hope it encourages any veterans who need welfare support to get in touch.
The VWS works in partnership with the Armed Forces, Service and ex-Service charities, local authorities and local Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees to deliver a quality welfare service that promotes independence and dignity via continuous support.
The SPVA is also currently appealing to veterans to have their say about the services it delivers. The Agency’s Veterans Customer Satisfaction Survey has been launched online, with a hard copy sent to over 7,000 veterans, in order to seek feedback from those who have contacted the Agency or used its services during the past year, to find out what is working well and what could be improved in the future.
Jon Parkin, Head of Veterans Services for the SPVA, said:
We always try to provide an excellent standard of service to our veterans customers and engaging with the veterans community is very important to us. This survey will really help us see what veterans actually think of our service, both good and bad, with all feedback being used to improve how we do things in the future.
I’d encourage anyone who has contacted us, or used our services in the last year, to complete our short questionnaire and tell us their views.
The survey is entirely anonymous and no-one will be contacted by phone or sent mailings as a result of completing it.
For a printed copy of the survey, call 02392 702382. The survey closes on 29 February 2012.
Veterans requiring welfare help or assistance can contact the VWS by calling the Veterans-UK helpline, free, on 0800 169 2277.
The SPVA’s ‘Veterans Today’ videos are available on the SPVA Social Media Hub that can be accessed via the Veterans-UK website and on the SPVA channel on YouTube.