CAPS Veterans Advocacy

Dear Scottish Ex-Forces,

CAPS Veterans Advocacy is pausing, growing and evolving. I (Jessica) will be shifting my career in a new direction. My last day will be Thursday, 04 July.

If you need help having your voice heard, please do reach out to CAPS Independent Advocacy (Edinburgh/Lothians) or the other Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance organisations across Scotland: https://www.siaa.org.uk/find-an-advocate/

The Scottish Veterans Wellbeing Alliance ( ) and its 25+ partner organisations will continue to be a force for good for Scottish ex-forces. By putting veteran voices as the heart of everything the SVWA does, the group will continue to be a powerful ally for veterans in Scotland.

If you are interested in contributing to the SVWA's veteran advisory group, contact Ele at [email protected] and Emma at [email protected] .

There will be a natural period of transition. During this phase, any communication can be directed to collective advocacy manager Ele at [email protected].

I wish you all fair winds and following seas... And hopefully I'll see you at breakfast club.

Find an advocate - Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance Do you or someone you know need an independent advocate? There are independent advocacy organisations across Scotland helping people to have their voices heard in decisions which affect their lives.…

Proud to represent the views of Scottish veterans in Birmingham yesterday. Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust

Our Veterans’ Place, Pathways and People programme Grant holders all came together with colleagues from the Trust and representatives from the OVA yesterday to engage in a Strategy Day.

🥳The event was a huge success bringing together the lessons learned from the last 2 years and providing a platform for discussion of the strategic plans of each region as we move into the next phase of this collaborative programme.

The passion and drive to see continuing success and build sustainability in this programme was notable and we look forward to sharing further updates as this important work continues in delivering innovative, collaborative, and impactful support to the veteran community.

Edinburgh-area military veterans... Who 'ya gonna call?
Do you know who the city's veteran champions are?

NHS (service connected Covenant issues that you have unsuccessfully tried to handle through the GP) - Ms. Tracey Gillies, [email protected]

Citizens Advice Edinburgh / Lothians - Susan Proudfoot, phone: 0785.714.5903, [email protected], [email protected]

Department for Work & Pensions - Armed Forces Champion Team, [email protected]

General/ Civic issues - Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, 0131.529.4400, [email protected]

Want to know who represents other areas?

www.veteransscotland.co.uk

Have you hit roadblocks in accessing the veteran services you need?

I'd like to hear about it... [email protected]

Samaritans and Edinburgh Nightline are running a University Mental Health Day in Edinburgh on Mon 11th March where you can access support and enjoy yoga, songwriting, ceilidh and more! Book tickets here: https://bit.ly/3STF26x

What's up ladies!

I'm looking forward to meeting some amazing women veterans this evening. Thanks to the Lothians Veterans Centre for inviting CAPS Veterans Advocacy to such a cool event. Hope to see you there! Thurs 01FEB2024, 1700-2000 at Lothian Vet Center in Dalkeith.

Did you know... Each Scottish local authority, NHS Scotland health board, Police Scotland department and the Department for Work and Pensions, has a Veterans' Champion – a named individual who ensures that policies and procedures do not disadvantage veterans or their families. You can look up some of the champions below:

https://www.veterans-assist.org/veteran-support/veterans-champion/

Have you engaged with law enforcement in Scotland? What was your experience like?

(Photo: https://www.holyrood.com/siteimg/big/ugc-1/fullnews/news/8596/7689_original.jpg)

Do you know what a Collective Advocacy group does?

Together we use our own experiences to call for improvements in the way people are treated.

Find out about some of our group members’ involvement with CAPS here: https://bit.ly/42YBjIw