Armed Forces charities handed additional £5m to support Afghanistan veterans' mental health

Armed Forces charities are being handed an extra £5m in funding to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of veterans.

This includes a focus on those who “may be struggling following recent events in Afghanistan”, says a statement from the government.

Projects to be funded include those offering mental health support, improving veterans’ awareness of help that is available.

“The £5 million boost will also help increase the user friendliness and accessibility of services, better signposting veterans to the range of state and charitable services available to them,” said the government.

“This will help to make mental health services even more accessible to the Afghanistan veteran cohort.”

The money will be allocated by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs later this year.

The finding is in addition to £3m that is being invested in mental health support through the government’s NHS through Op Courage service to support veterans and serving military personnel.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons this week that the aim of the funding is to ensure “that no veteran’s request for help will go unanswered”.

Defence minister Leo Docherty added: “This targeted increase in funding to charities, both large and small, will allow those who served to receive a gold standard of care across the board.

“We are forever grateful to the serving personnel and veterans who aided the people of Afghanistan, and will ensure they get the support they need and deserve in the most accessible methods possible.”