Making female veterans visible via The Female Veterans Transformation Programme

Did you know that female veterans tend to identify less with the term “veteran” compared to their male counterparts?

Following on from a 2021 report by Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities) and NHS England, The Female Veterans Transformation Programme is aiming to redress this imbalance in veteran-facing organisations.

Colonel (Retd) Alison Brown OBE, is Chair of the Cobseo Female Veterans’ Cluster Group and Life Vice President of the WRAC Association. She shared:

We will translate our strong understanding of the female veteran cohort to ensure that the particular needs of female veterans are firmly embedded in the design and delivery of support services, diluting and, in time, removing the many barriers to access now identified through published research.

The new far-reaching programme will be managed by the Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC) Association plus Cobseo.

It aims to change reduce barriers to women who have served, by working collaboratively across the Armed Forces charity sector. This includes looking at services delivered such as healthcare, care homes and  charities.

The project will also be funded by a £300,000 grant from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

A training toolkit to deliver necessary change

A 2021 report by Sarah Atherton MP also revealed that 53% of female veterans feel that their needs are not being met by current veteran services.

The Female Veteran Transformation Programme will develop a toolkit to tackle key themes. These include physical and mental healthcare, financial advice, care provisions and employment services.

The programme also aims to combat loneliness across future generations of female veterans across the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force.

Paula Rogers, CEO of the WRAC Association also explains:

This AFCT funding allows the Women’s Royal Army Corps Association, in partnership with  the Cobseo Female Veterans’ Cluster Group, to take forward this much-needed work to design and sustain the provision of support services for all female veterans. We are proud to be spearheading this work for female veterans across the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force and will work to deliver long term systematic change with benefits reaching our elderly war-service veterans through to those leaving their service career in years to come.