I hosted a roundtable with veterans in Norwich, in collaboration with the fantastic Matthew Project on Oak Street.

The veterans I spoke to feel let down by the Government, which makes the work of organisations like The Matthew Project all the more invaluable, as they step up to provide community-based support.

The Matthew Project have a team of highly-trained and experienced workers, who are themselves ex-Forces and have a particular understanding of the needs and issues faced by veterans, current serving personnel, and their families. They offer innovative, comprehensive support across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire.

Find out more about the Matthew Project’s Outside The Wire programme.

Over the past year, Outside the Wire has provided one-to-one and group support to 192 people. This includes:

• 121 veterans in the community provided with specialist one-to-one outreach support
• 39 family members provided with specialist one-to-one support and activities
• 32 veterans in custody supported with advice and guidance in prison forums

The Project also ran groups across the region, totalling 10 support groups run by staff and volunteers and supporting an average of 70 group members.

Veterans deserve support not just because they’ve served our country. They deserve support because everyone should have access to quality healthcare and decent housing.