Exploring the Need for a Veterans' Centre in Northern Ireland

The current report builds upon the findings of our previous two reports; Supporting & Serving Military Veterans in Northern Ireland, which scoped the services available to NI veterans through the statutory, Ministry of Defence (MOD) and voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations, and the Current and Future Needs of Veterans in Northern Ireland, which outlines the findings of focus groups with a range of veterans in NI as well as perspectives of those providing direct services to this population regarding the needs of the veteran population in the region. The first report identified a large infrastructure of various support services, with a paucity of veteran specific services in the statutory sector. The second report found that veterans’ needs are often complex and overlapping, and accessing support is hindered by a number of social and institutional barriers. With the complexity of veterans’ needs, and the obstacles to identifying and accessing appropriate services described by veterans themselves, there is some appeal in a dedicated Veterans’ Centre. The possibility and acceptability of such a centre, what it might look like, and what services it may provide, is the primary concern of this report.