Reinstating of the Veterans' Mobility Fund

In the 2023 Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced £3 million in funding to reopen the Veterans' Mobility Fund, following a two-year campaign led by Help for Heroes and Blesma, The Limbless Veterans Charity.

After the Fund’s closure in 2021, we jointly supported around 200 eligible individuals with mobility grants, but the new funding will mean many more of our most seriously wounded veterans can access life-changing mobility aids. 

The Veterans’ Mobility Fund is now administered by Help for Heroes, in partnership with Blesma, following the successful joint bid to the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) and the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which awarded the administration in September 2023.

The fund provides grants to veterans with physical disabilities resulting from service-related injuries, enabling them to access mobility equipment not typically available through the NHS, such as specialist wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

For more information, please visit: https://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/get-help/veterans-mobility-fund/

Why was this a Campaign Goal?

Mobility issues are one of the most reported challenges experienced by the ex-service community and this has increased in recent years. Indeed, musculoskeletal disorders and injuries are the most common principal cause of medical discharges from the Armed Forces.

The Veterans' Mobility Fund programme was set up in 2015 to provide enduring support for veterans with serious physical injury resulting from their service. The fund has been used to provide specialist equipment for eligible veterans, which is not usually available via the NHS or through the MOD. 

Previously administered by the Royal British Legion, the Veterans' Mobility Fund was funded through a five-year, £3 million commitment from HM Treasury LIBOR funds.

It supported 219 veterans through the funding of 275 separate awards, providing life-changing, positive impacts. 

When the LIBOR funding ended in February 2021, Help for Heroes and Blesma filled the gap out of charitable funds: a combined total of over £425,571 on mobility grants, covering 227 separate awards, so that veterans could continue to access specialist equipment and treatment.

How did we achieve the goal?

• We campaigned long and hard for over two years – alongside BLESMA – to secure the reinstatement of the Mobility Fund and put blood, sweat and tears into our subsequent application to assume responsibility of its administration.
• Over the last two years, we have worked tirelessly to make the case to the Treasury and UK Government. 
• We have also worked with MPs, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Health and Social Care to build the case for the continuation of the Mobility Fund, stating that UK Government has a duty to meet its Armed Forces Covenant commitment of ‘special consideration’ for veterans with serious physical injury resulting from their service.
• The momentum had been building before the Treasury announced funding in March 2023. We reached 30,000 signatures on our public petition to extend the Veterans' Mobility Fund in under a 4-week period.