ROYAL BRITISH LEGION INDUSTRIES LTD.

Each year in the UK, around 1000 serving veterans leave the armed forces with a devastating injury or a long-term mental health issue, putting them at high risk of unemployment. The current cost-of-living crisis means it is more crucial than ever for these individuals to be supported back to work and financial independence.

Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) supports the most vulnerable veterans of the UK Armed Forces, providing employment, housing and care. We help veterans with mental health issues, injuries and disabilities to learn to manage health conditions, rebuild belief and regain independence.

How do we help?

• Employment training and support
• Accommodation including emergency housing that we can move veterans into within 24 hours
• Mental health support
• Welfare support
• Assisted living
• Care and mobility

Veterans are a key part of our communities, and play a major role in society. According to the 2021 census, around 1 in 25 adults are ex-military. The lasting legacy of lockdowns, a lack of job-hunting experience and coping with health issues can push a veteran into a downward spiral leading to depression, alcohol/substance abuse and homelessness. 

This is a critical time, but with your support, we can change lives.

Lifeworks is RBLI’s national outreach and employability programme for anyone who has served in the military or their dependents and is unemployed. We help individuals find work that really suits them and is particularly targeted at veterans who face barriers to work through injury, poor mental health, and other long-term health conditions. The programme enables veterans to develop a second career that matches their skills and traits.  

During the pandemic, Lifeworks set up new video coaching capabilities, and re-shaped the programme to reach more veterans across the country. Whilst back to providing residential courses, Lifeworks retains this ability to coach veterans in the environment that suits them best.

Lifeworks participants work with an occupational psychologist to unpick their challenges and build a picture of their interests, goals and abilities. Together they create a realistic, personalised action plan the veteran owns and can believe in, written without any military jargon, linked to the local job market. This sets realistic perceptions and achievable goals. They work to overcome psychological challenges, and limiting beliefs, and are supported to examine their ability to cope with change.

Every penny donated by you, directly supports veterans. Your support provides them with homes, welfare and employability support to help every one of them get back on their feet and begin a positive future with their families.

Now, more than ever, we need your support to ensure help is available to all those who desperately need it.