Homelessness within ex-Armed Forces Personnel - Riverside

Riverside ECHG
SPACES is a national telephone advice service
based at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire –
it is run by Riverside ECHG in partnership with
the MoD.
The service offers accommodation placement
advice to all single personnel being discharged
from all three Armed Services. This advice is
offered before Service Personnel are
discharged in order to reduce the amount of
individuals falling into homelessness and social
isolation. An option has been introduced that
allows personnel about to be discharged but
who have accommodation to move into to
register with SPACES, meaning they can have
full access to the service should their arranged
accommodation fail within six months.
Since opening in 2000, SPACES has helped
over 8,000 individuals to find accommodation,
including veterans who have contacted SPACES
after discharge. Riverside ECHG manages a
similar service at the Military Corrective
Training Centre (MCTC) at the Berechurch Hall
Camp, Colchester to help discharged Service
Personnel under sentence to find
accommodation. During 2010, 1,304
individuals leaving the Armed Forces were
referred to SPACES and MCTC to receive
accommodation advice and support (Table 3).
Of these, 1,206 were from the Army, 40 from
the Navy, 57 from the RAF and one from the
Royal Marines. This supports previous research
findings that the majority of ex-Service
Personnel in need of this support come from
the Army (Johnsen, Jones, & Rugg, 2008). Of
the eligible referrals to SPACES, 94% found
accommodation. Of the eligible referrals to
MCTC, 100% found accommodation. On
average 96% of people were being re-housed
in accommodation within the area which they
had requested by both services (Table 3).
The Galleries scheme at Catterick Garrison
and Mike Jackson House at Aldershot Garrison
have both proved to be very successful in
providing move on accommodation. The
majority of clients move into secure housing
and develop independent living skills. All clients
are provided with a contact card should they
find themselves in difficulty in the future to
provide immediate access to housing advice
and support.
Displayed in Table 4 are a number of statistics
from 2010/11 for Mike Jackson House and The
Galleries. In total the schemes housed 68 clients
between April 2010 and March 2011. During
this time 75 clients left the schemes, 70 of
which moved to permanent accommodation.
The support provided within the schemes
enabled almost 86% of clients to successfully
move on. The necessity of these schemes is
clearly illustrated by the number of individuals
on the waiting list – at any time there are at
least 10 on this list. On top of this, prior to its
opening in September 2011, The Beacon
already had 237 clients expressing an interest.
A number of objectives have been put forward
to aid the re-integration of socially excluded
individuals into society (Pierson, 2002). These
objectives are: maximising income and welfare
rights; strengthening networks; building
partnerships; promoting participation; and
working within the neighbourhood. Riverside
ECHG has had great success in re-integrating
individuals back into society with on average
91% of clients successfully moving on from
Mike Jackson House and The Galleries into
secure accommodation. An average of 61%
of clients within the schemes also learned to
better manage their substance abuse issues.
Table 5 summarises the outcome statistics
from the two schemes and demonstrates
how they relate to the above objectives.
SPACES MCTC Total
Number of eligible referrals discharged 697 80 777
Number referrals accommodated 652 80 732
Number of referrals accommodated in requested area 567 78 645
Table 3. Statistics from Riverside ECHG Ex-Armed Forces Personnel Accommodation Advice Schemes
April 2010 – March 2011
Mike Jackson House The Galleries Total
Number of residents 50 21 71
Number of leavers 53 22 75
Number of leavers accommodated 50 18 68
Average waiting list size 11.64 10.91 22.55
Table 4. Statistics from Riverside ECHG ex-Services Personnel supported Schemes April 2010 – March 2011
Percentage of clients who: Mike Jackson House % The Galleries % Overall %
Maximising income and welfare rights
Received help to maximise their income 89 98 93.5
Strengthening networks & building partnerships
Established contact with friend/family 75 76 81
Promoting participation
Participated in training and/or education 65 91 75
Achieved applicable qualification(s) 41 64 50
Working within the neighbourhood
Participated in any work-like activities e.g.
volunteering or unpaid work
Managing addictions
75 100 78
Better managed substance misuse issues 57 75 61
Table 5. National Outcome Framework Statistics from Riverside ECHG ex-Services Personnel supported
Schemes April 2010 – March 2011
18 19