Veterans Aid

Problem

Veterans Aid supports ex-servicemen and women in crisis, offering immediate, practical support to veterans who are homeless, facing homelessness or in crisis, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, rank or length of service. The charity approached Pro Bono Economics for help in carrying out an economic analysis of the costs and benefits of its work with veterans.

Solution

Volunteer Ingrid Petrie, from SYSTRA Ltd, was matched with this project. Working closely with the charity, she assessed the extent to which Veterans Aid helped ex-servicemen and women across six key areas of support, such as tackling substance abuse, remaining in accommodation and gaining employment, and the costs incurred through supporting those in the sample.

Results

The study, based on data provided by Veterans Aid for a sample of 166 veterans supported in 2016/17, shows that 88% of clients helped with emergency accommodation and homelessness prevention were in accommodation after six months. Across all six intervention areas (including remaining in accommodation, tackling substance abuse, and gaining employment), 79% of interventions in the sample led to a positive outcome, such as continued sobriety, full- or part-time employment, and improved mental health. Against costs of £267,000 in the 2016/17 client sample, benefits totalled around £965,000.

Impact

Veteran’s Aid continue to provide vital services to veterans in need, having appropriately homed 154 veterans in 2018.

Speaking of the Pro Bono Economics report, Veterans Aid CEO Dr Hugh Milroy said:

“There is a lot of myth and misdirection in the veteran's world and we welcomed the opportunity to work with a reputable third party to demonstrate how we gather our data and support our claims. We have been totally transparent with Pro Bono Economics and the experience of working with their team has been an extremely valuable one.”

Pro Bono Economics was supported by City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of The City of London Corporation’s charity, Bridge House Estates (1035628), to carry out this project.

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Jenny Scott

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