What We Do
We support veterans from UK Armed Forces, and Merchant Navy and their spouses/partners
We operate In Portsmouth, Isle of Wight, Gosport, Fareham, and more widely, in Hampshire and the south of England.
VOS provides access to welfare support, whether it be from PIP to housing and more.
VOS organises activities, events and social groups to promote camaraderie, community and fun.
VOS provides support to individuals and family members via cognitive, behavioural and emotional wellbeing therapies or treatments.
Veterans Outreach Support (VOS) is an award-winning, UK registered charity that provides a welcoming and relaxed setting where UK veterans and family members can drop in for confidential social or psychological support. VOS serves those who served their nation and, in recognition of its Falklands War-related origins, members of all three services of the British Armed Forces and Reserves, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the Merchant Navy are welcome.
Initially set up in 2008, financial support in 2013 facilitated its UK charity registration and enabled it to expand its services to families, deliver weekly therapy, as well as to embrace offenders and those with alcohol and substance abuse problems.
The VOS Mission Statement is, ‘To meet the welfare, wellbeing and mental health needs of veterans’, including spouses, partners and carers. The charity’s HQ and main delivery venue is the Royal Maritime Club in Portsmouth – a familiar, safe and welcoming place for veterans.
Over the last 4 years, VOS has significantly expanded its range of peer-supported wellbeing activities and social groups and has seen increasing demand for its mental health services and support, as well as its work in support of alcohol and substance addiction and dependency recovery.
In 2021 VOS was the first recipient of the Shaping Portsmouth Armed Forces Covenant Award and in 2022 the charity was awarded the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award. Our quality delivery has also resulted in VOS being selected as one of only 10 national portfolio leads in the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s programme to improve the wellbeing and mental health of veterans across the SE of England. All VOS support and services are enriched and strengthened by very close cooperation and collaboration with local and national delivery partners, such as other charities and statutory services, including the NHS.
VOS is a local charity with national impact. Its operating model is recognised by Confederation of Service Charities (Cobseo) as a template of best practice and exemplar for a collaborative and efficient approach to delivering veteran-specific services at a local level.
