Projects funded by the Office for Veterans' Affairs
Updated 3 September 2024
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This report includes projects funded under the previous government.
Grants administered by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust
The majority of grants funded by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) are administered by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.
Details of each of these grants can be found on the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s website at Programmes funded by Office for Veterans’ Affairs.
Grants administered by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs
Other grants are funded and administered by the OVA directly, such as:
The Health Innovation Fund
The Health Innovation Fund is a £5-million scheme that aims to improve the treatments, techniques and pathways for meeting veterans’ physical and mental health needs. The grants were awarded after a rigorous assessment in March 2023. The projects vary in length between 12 to 24 months based on project aim and outcome.
The table below sets out projects that have been awarded funding through the Health Innovation Fund.
| Organisation/Study name | Total amount* |
|---|---|
| Anglia Ruskin University: Co-designing recommendations for innovative solutions to meeting female veterans needs in physical healthcare pathways | £239,993 |
| Blesma: Assistive Technology - Mobility Devices | £200,000 |
| Bravo Victor: Understanding visual hallucinations in military veterans | £218,565 |
| Cardiff University: Adapting evidence-based guided internet-based treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (ADVANCE) | £195,843 |
| Defence Medical Welfare Service, Northern Ireland | £300,000 |
| Forward Assist: Understanding suicide ideation among victims of sexual trauma | £100,000 |
| Imperial College London: Amputee bone implant for residual limb pain and improved function | £237,931 |
| Imperial College London: Direct Skeletal Fixation | £143,007 |
| Imperial College London: Evaluation of the Veterans Trauma Network | £155,546 |
| Imperial College London: Improving bone health in lower limb amputees | £239,925 |
| Imperial College London: In-home gait rehabilitation of lower limb amputees | £244,273 |
| Imperial College London: The impact of early interventions on long-term outcomes of combat trauma (ADVANCE Study) | £246,968 |
| Imperial College London: Veterans Physical Health Needs Assessment | £80,527 |
| King’s College London: Supporting female veterans of the UK Armed Forces who consume alcohol at a harmful or hazardous level: | £260,594 |
| Northumbria University: The FemBER-Vet project | £239,986 |
| St John and Red Cross Defence Medical Welfare Service: Welfare and Technology for the advancement of Veteran Wellbeing | £278,408 |
| Swansea University: Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a smartphone-based app to reduce harmful gambling and PTSD symptoms among veterans | £239,961 |
| University of Birmingham: UNTANGLE | £199,083 |
| University of Exeter: (AI)-supported mobile Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) intervention for the treatment of depression and anxiety in ex-servicewomen | £227,472 |
| University of Leicester: Development of an online test of executive dysfunction as a marker of PTSD | £239,064 |
| Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) projects: 1. Rapid Healing of Chronic Wounds - Novel Patch/Dressing to Deliver Electrotherapy (NUTissu Ltd) 2. Improving residual limb management and rehabilitation through user-reported data via a digital application (Radii Devices Ltd) 3. Veteran chronic pain peer-support and self-learning/ management ecosystem (Umio) |
£603,836 |
*rounded to nearest £1
Further projects supported by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs
Supporting female veteran survivors of military sexual trauma
This fund seeks to raise awareness of military sexual trauma and provide tiered training for both veteran and non-veteran charities and healthcare professionals. Combat Stress was awarded £195,643 during 2023 to 2025.
Nuclear Test Veteran Community Fund
This fund seeks to enable organisations to deliver bespoke programmes that help to recognise and support nuclear test veterans and their families. Programmes will help meet the government’s commitment to recognise the nuclear test veteran community by supporting the development of memorialisation and educational activity, as well as providing direct support.
Organisations to receive this funding between 2023 to 2025 were:
- LABRATS: £34,180
- Big Ideas: £68,350
- Nuclear Community Charity Fund: £70,000
An oral history of British nuclear test veterans
A 2-year project that is part of a package of recognition for nuclear test veterans. The University of South Wales was awarded £249,154 from 2023 to 2025.
See ‘Life stories’ of British nuclear test veterans to be preserved through new study.
Lived experience of non-UK veterans
This project provides baseline qualitative research to understand the lived experience of non-UK veterans, and the factors influencing their experiences. RAND Europe was awarded £89,950 for this project during 2021 to 2022.
Female veterans’ experience of government and charity service provision
The aim of this project is to provide qualitative research to better understand the lived experience of female veterans and their experience with government and charity sectors. Anglia Ruskin University was awarded £115,698 from 2021 to 2022.
Improving access to service charities for female veterans
The requirement of the project was to improve access to a wide range of service and non-service charities. It focused on a range of issues (for example, substance abuse, domestic violence, family and financial services) and public sector organisations in number of sectors, such as social care, housing and criminal justice support. Robert Gordon University was awarded £69,121 from 2022 to 2023.
Enhance Study: Improving access to evidence- based treatment for women veteran survivors of sexual trauma
The aim of the project was to improve access to charitable veterans’ services for women who have served in the armed forces in the United Kingdom and have experienced sexual trauma. Combat Stress was awarded £61,270 during 2021 to 2022.
The lived experience of veterans from ethnic minority backgrounds
This project delivered baseline qualitative research to understand the lived experience of UK veterans from ethnic minority backgrounds, and the factors influencing their experiences. This project was awarded £94,260 during 2022 to 2023, and was delivered by the University of Warwick.
Supporting veterans and their families into employment in information technology careers
This project was funded to enable a Forces Employment Charity in association with TechVets to expand their programme to enable veterans to enter digital careers. The Forces Employment Charity was awarded £80,000 during 2021-22.
Veterans’ Gateway
The Veterans’ Gateway is a website and phone line point of contact for veterans which acts as a referral service to further support. Launched in 2017, it’s run by a consortium of charities led by the Royal British Legion. It has been part-funded by the government since it was established, currently at £250,000 a year from the OVA.
LGBT memorial
This project is to lead on the design and construction of an LGBT armed forces community memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum. The memorial will commemorate all LGBT service personnel, including those impacted by the pre-2000 LGBT ban. Fighting with Pride has been awarded £350,000 for this project during 2024 to 2025.
Project contracts funded by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs
King’s College London Veterans’ Cohort Study
This project is a longitudinal study investigating the health and well-being of UK military personnel. King’s College London has been awarded a total of £2,031,374 for this project between 2020 and 2024.
Priority setting partnership in veterans’ health: Identifying the top 10 research priorities for veterans’ health
The aim of this project will be to work with the veterans’ health community to identify and prioritise research questions which would improve quality of life for veterans and their families. The output of the exercise will be a top 10 list of priority areas for research. The James Lind Alliance (part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research) and the University of Southampton were awarded £40,850 during 2022 to 2024.
Public perceptions and employer perceptions
This project was funded to provide baseline research (quantitative and qualitative) to understand the current perceptions of veterans among the public and employers, including the influencing factors behind these perceptions, YouGov PLC was awarded £112,538 for this project during 2021 to 2023.
Data analysis projects (undertaken by the Office for National Statistics)
Veterans’ Survey 2022
The aim of this project was to develop and launch the first-ever UK-wide veterans’ survey, supported jointly by the OVA, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and devolved administrations, to better understand veterans’ lived experience. The ONS was funded £109,973 for this project during 2022 and 2023.
Veterans’ Survey 2022 analysis
The aim of this project is to analyse and publish the survey data based on research questions as determined by the OVA. The ONS was funded £183,093 during 2023 and 2024.
Veteran suicide study
The aim of this project is to analyse veteran suicide rates by using England and Wales Census data and other government datasets, a new approach for recording and calculating veteran suicide as announced by the government in September 2021. The ONS was funded £160,000 during 2022 and 2024.