Exploring the Need for a Veterans’ Centre in Northern Ireland

Abstract: Exploring the Need for a Veterans’ Centre in Northern Ireland is the third in a series of reports from the Northern Ireland Veterans’ Health and Wellbeing Study (NIVHWS). The aim of this research was to gain
insight into the perspectives of veterans and service providers in Northern Ireland (NI) regarding the
potential need for a dedicated Veterans’ Centre. This was accomplished by analysing qualitative data from
a series of focus groups and interviews with veterans and service providers, and early quantitative data
from an ongoing large-scale and fully anonymous Northern Ireland Veterans’ Health and Wellbeing Survey.
The current report builds upon the findings of our previous two reports; Supporting & Serving Military
Veterans in Northern Ireland, which scoped the services available to NI veterans through the statutory,
Ministry of Defence (MOD) and voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations, and the Current and
Future Needs of Veterans in Northern Ireland, which outlines the findings of focus groups with a range of
veterans in NI as well as perspectives of those providing direct services to this population regarding the
needs of the veteran population in the region. The first report identified a large infrastructure of various
support services, with a paucity of veteran specific services in the statutory sector. The second report
found that veterans’ needs are often complex and overlapping, and accessing support is hindered by a
number of social and institutional barriers. With the complexity of veterans’ needs, and the obstacles to
identifying and accessing appropriate services described by veterans themselves, there is some appeal in a
dedicated Veterans’ Centre. The possibility and acceptability of such a centre, what it might look like, and
what services it may provide, is the primary concern of this report.