From January 2022 to December 2024, Kent Arts and Wellbeing (KAAW) was part of the Veterans Places, Pathways and People (VPPP) project in the Southeast of England, led by Veterans Outreach Support (VOS). Thanks to the leadership and generous funding provided by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (AFCFT), VOS assembled a collaborative portfolio of projects named ‘Partnership in Mind’ with the emphasis on the wellbeing and mental health of veterans and their close families.
KAAW is pleased to announce the continuation of its work with veterans in a new initiative entitled “Thrive Together – Partnership in Mind”. Our involvement is once again led by VOS, and we continue to work to cover Kent as part of the larger Southeast of England.
KAAW has been providing creative activities for veterans and their families and through this engagement has been able to help VOS conduct extensive consultations with those veterans, families, and carers, revealing that services are not well integrated, and many veterans are unaware of the available support to them.
The new initiative, Thrive Together – Partnership in Mind, intends to create a comprehensive support network for veterans and their families, focusing on; improving help-seeking behaviour; reducing mental health stigma and providing holistic support services.
Key strategies will involve improved collaboration among service providers to help increase effective capacity and fill gaps in support. Plans also include a multi-channel communications campaign to increase awareness and encourage sustainable collaboration and networking opportunities for all veterans, their families, and carers.
Performance metrics will measure progress and expected outcomes include a more cohesive support environment and positive changes for veteran and family support across the region.
KAAW founder Ken Scott says:
“This project presents a great opportunity to get the most out of existing support, identify and fill gaps so that veterans and their families are more aware of and able to easily access any support they might need”
