Your donation is needed now more than ever.
With increasing numbers of Service personnel leaving the Forces with life changing injuries, the Coming Home Campaign is determined to assist as many individuals as possible.
How will my donation help the campaign and the trust?
The majority of Service personnel seeking housing help will have had little, if any, previous experience in buying or renting accommodation. Many are relatively young and will not have had to think about such things until their military career was traumatically cut short and they were forced to find somewhere to live outside the Armed Forces. Some, understandably, need help to do this, particularly when they need a home capable of meeting their particular needs.
The challenge facing our beneficiaries is to rebuild their lives. They need the security of a safe and adapted home to do so, in an area where they feel comfortable and can be supported, often for the rest of their lives.
This is a significant challenge and the Trust aims to buy and adapt properties to suit an individual’s particular needs. To do this, Haig Housing needs to raise significant funds, and Coming Home is the fundraising campaign to do this.
Why is charity money need to assist wounded service personnel?
The wounded are paid military pensions on medical discharge from the Service and now receive compensation through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). However, this is in recognition of “pain and suffering”; it has to last to help them throughout their lives and is NOT designed to provide adapted housing.
Thanks to modern medical treatment, enhanced body armour and swift helicopter evacuation from the battlefield, badly wounded Service personnel are surviving with terrible injuries which would have killed them as little as 20 years ago.
The UK has a history of charitable support of the Armed Forces and we are pleased that many people wish to continue with this. Many of our heroes will be able to lead fulfilling lives but will need help from us all throughout their lives.
Don’t local authorities have a statutory duty to provide housing assistance?
Local Authorities help whenever they can. However, they struggle with budgetary restrictions meaning they are unable to provide suitable, adapted accommodation in the required location and within specific time limits, for the badly wounded.
Our Service heroes deserve better; they need to be housed in properly adapted accommodation, in areas they can easily reached by families, friends and medical help. If the Local Authorities are unable to help, then we must.
How do you know you want to raise £20M?
Coming Home’s £20million target is derived from the rough cost of £200,000 per recipient, aiming to help at least 100 injured Servicemen. Sadly, the number of personnel needing our help continues to rise as military operations continue.