The Public Policy Exchange event was held at London’s Strand Palace Hotel and included more than 80 stakeholders from local authorities, academia, charities the Third Sector and others.
Some attendees were surprised to learn how few veterans were street homeless while others confirmed that it mirrored their own local experience.
Speakers included Westminster City Council’s Senior Manager for Rough Sleeping, Jennifer Travassos, who flagged up how effective the council’s partnership with Veterans Aid was proving.
Afterwards CEO of VA Dr Hugh Milroy said, “We were keen to ensure that a veteran’s organisation was represented at this event because there is still a belief that ex-servicemen and women are causally damaged by service and a large component of the street homeless community. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“VA operates across the UK but London is a magnet for the homeless and many gravitate towards Westminster and the Victoria transport hub where our Ops Centre is located. There is no need for any genuine veteran to be homeless today and with the help of referrals from Westminster and the many other agencies we connect with, VA can intervene immediately.”
