Recently, we announced that Improving Lives Plymouth (ILP) had secured funding from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to establish one of the country’s first 14 VALOUR-recognised centres (VRCs), here in Plymouth.
Based at Ernest English House in our City Centre Wellbeing Hub, VALOUR will complement the long-standing work of our Plymouth Veterans and Family Hub and allow us to co-ordinate services across wider parts of Devon and Cornwall with our official local partners, Veterans Outdoors and Veterans Regroup. It also allows us to establish links with other VRCs in different regions across the country, and with the national VALOUR team based at the MoD.
What is VALOUR, and why does it matter?
VALOUR is the new £50M UK-wide support service for veterans and their families led by Office for Veteran Affairs (OVA) in the MoD, and is a key feature of the government’s Veterans Strategy, making it easier for ex‑armed forces personnel to access the right support when it is most needed.
This is a huge win for the armed forces community in our region. At the time of the last census (2021), Plymouth was home to approximately 18,000 veterans, plus their immediate family members. That is more than double the national average based on population. Across all of Devon and Cornwall, there are a total of around 100,000 veterans plus families’ members.
The Improving Lives VALOUR-recognised centre represents a substantial investment in the coordinated infrastructure, shared vision and partnership networks needed to reduce the postcode variation in support that too many veterans have experienced. In time, these pathways will extend to the whole armed forces community, supported by the wider Armed Forces Covenant legal duty.
Programme officially launched nationally
VALOUR is now officially launched at its first level of operating capacity, with full capacity scheduled to be reached in 2028.
That means the new national VALOUR website is now live, acting as a central “network of networks” that every veteran in the country can access to find their local support options or submit a support request referral directly to the Office of Veterans’ Affairs. These can be made via digital form, email or phone.
Our prominent inclusion in the directory as the primary source of support for veterans in Devon and Cornwall is an honour we take seriously. It is a direct signal of confidence from the Ministry of Defence and Office of Veterans Affairs that our VALOUR Centre has the potential to do significant good locally, backed by investment that equips us with the tools to do exactly that.
What’s next?
VALOUR will keep rolling out through 2026 and 2027, with more centres opening across the country. As first-round choices, Improving Lives Plymouth, Veteran’s Regroup and Veteran’s Outdoors are well placed to serve as anchor institutions for the programme, providing data and learning as we develop, and helping support other centres as they are established.
We are actively mobilising our VALOUR offer now and expect it to develop rapidly over the next 6 months. In addition to our Plymouth VRC, we aim to establish a satellite hub in Truro, a wide range of quality assured information and advice, ‘drop-ins’ across a range of local towns in Devon and Cornwall, all combined with a detailed programme of activities and interventions.
Watch this space for more updates as the programme continues to grow and take shape locally.
