Blind Veterans UK with Blesma to receive £1.25m Armed Forces Covenant Fund Award
17 July 2014
Blesma has welcomed today’s announcement that a joint bid for £1.25m from the Armed Forces Covenant (Libor) Fund has been successful.
Led by Blind Veterans UK and supported by Blesma, the award will go towards the funding of the development of a new £1.65 million accommodation, rehabilitation and training unit at Blind Veterans UK's Llandudno Centre, North Wales.
The new unit will provide Blesma and Blind Veterans UK Members with medium-length stays of between six weeks to six months and access to individually tailored programmes that enable them to address their specific situations and challenges. The new unit will particularly seek to help veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, with the aim of providing them the skills they need to live independently.
Barry Le Grys, Chief Executive of Blesma says: “We are delighted that this joint bid with our colleagues in Blind Veterans UK has been successful. This exciting project will provide new opportunities for Blesma Members, alongside their Blind Veterans UK colleagues, to lead independent and fulfilling lives.”
Barry Porter, Interim Chief Executive of Blind Veterans UK says: "We are very proud that Blind Veterans UK's new unit will also provide accommodation to veterans from another military charity, Blesma. This is the latest project that we are delivering in collaboration with other military charities and we look forward to welcoming a range of veterans to our first-class facility, where they will receive life-transforming care and support."
Defence Minister Anna Soubry said: "Our Armed Forces and their families give so much to our country so it is only right that we continue to recognise their contribution and sacrifice after they have left Service. I'm delighted that Blind Veterans UK, in partnership with Blesma, in Llandudno, Wales, will receive very well deserved funding which will allow them to continue their efforts in assisting veterans in finding and adapting accommodation."
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Award will go towards funding the conversion of an adjacent stable block of Blind Veterans UK's Llandudno centre into a five-unit accommodation facility. Work is set to begin in April 2015 and construction is estimated to take 12 months. The unit is aimed to be ready for occupation from May 2016. Following the unit's construction, Blind Veterans UK will need to raise approximately £200,000 per year to fund the unit's operating costs.
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund was launched in 2012, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer allocated £35 million to the Ministry of Defence from fines levied on banks for attempting to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) benchmark for interest rates. The intention of the Libor fund is to support the two key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are that the Armed Forces Community should not face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services, and that special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor
Hi-res images can be downloaded from the links below:
Armed Forces Covenant /media/161686/AF_Covenant_Logo.png
Blesma Logo /media/8076/blesma-master-logo.jpg
About Blesma, The Limbless Veterans
Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless serving and ex service men and women, their widows and dependants. It is a membership organisation which helps wounded service men and women rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. Their membership includes those who have lost the use of a limb, an eye or the sight of an eye.
Blesma was formed in the years following the First World War and became a national charity in 1932. Blesma today has over 4000 Members and widows. The membership consists of men and women who have served during the Second World War and the many subsequent conflicts and peacekeeping operations since, including the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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