UK Veterans Strategy: £27m for local VALOUR centres
If you teach or study modern Britain, Remembrance week is when we ask what support looks like beyond the two‑minute silence. On 10 November 2025 the UK Government launched a new Veterans Strategy and opened £27 million for local organisations to bid to run VALOUR‑recognised support centres. The plan is pitched at the UK’s 1.8 million veterans and aims to make help easier to find and use, from health to housing to work.
What is actually changing? For the first time there will be a coordinated national network of local veterans’ centres linked to a VALOUR headquarters inside the Ministry of Defence, supported by regional teams and field officers. Ministers say it’s the first Veterans Strategy in seven years, developed alongside the Strategic Defence Review and the Armed Forces Covenant, with the first centres due to open from spring 2026.
What a centre could do for you. Picture a staffed place where a veteran can walk in or be referred and get practical help: booking GP appointments, mental health and peer support, advice on housing or employment, and signposting for welfare. Depending on local need, some centres may also offer money guidance, wellbeing activities and support to rebuild social connections.
The money behind it matters. VALOUR totals £50 million, with £27 million now live for bids to build the network. Alongside that sits a new £12 million pot to reduce veteran homelessness, plus an extension of Op FORTITUDE-the central referral pathway that has already helped house more than 1,000 veterans-funding three years of services across the UK.
How to get help today. If you are homeless or at risk within eight weeks, your local council has legal duties to assist. You can also contact Op FORTITUDE directly on 0800 9520 774; veterans, families, councils and charities can refer. You do not need to wait for the new centres to open to seek support.
Who benefits-and who bids. Individuals don’t apply for the £27 million; councils, charities and local partners do. Selected centres will plug into a VALOUR hub inside the MoD, with regional centres and field officers working across communities. The strategy is UK‑wide and officials say veterans helped shape it.
A quick media‑literacy check we can do together. This is a government press release, so the tone is upbeat. Good readers ask: where will the first centres be, who selects them, and what data will be gathered to improve services? Ministers describe VALOUR as ‘data‑driven’, so we should expect clear safeguards and regular, public evaluation of results.
Remembrance is our civic context. Use this week to link history to present‑day support. The Royal British Legion asks the nation to pause for two minutes at 11am on Armistice Day, 11 November, and also on Remembrance Sunday. Pair that moment of respect with practical signposting so people know where help lives.
For classrooms and youth work, we suggest you make it concrete. Map the support path on a whiteboard: council housing team, Op FORTITUDE as the referral line, local charities, and-next year-your nearest VALOUR centre. Talk about barriers that veterans may face, like paperwork, stigma or moving between services, and how peers and families can help close those gaps.
Key details to remember as you plan. Bids for VALOUR centres opened on 10 November 2025; the first centres are expected from spring 2026. If someone needs help now, the Op FORTITUDE number is 0800 9520 774 and councils still have duties today. We’ll update this guide as soon as locations are confirmed.