Veterans’ Gateway

Veterans’ Gateway launched to improve access to welfare services and help veterans receive support

Veterans’ Gateway

8th May 2022

Charity overview

The first point of contact for veterans seeking support, the Veterans’ Gateway is made up of a consortium of organisations and Armed Forces charities, including The Royal British Legion, SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity, Poppyscotland, Combat Stress and Connect Assist.

Funded by The Armed Forces Covenant, we put veterans and their families in touch with the organisations best placed to help with the information, advice and support they need – from healthcare and housing to employability, finances, personal relationships and more. Our connection with additional key referral partners and information organisations – both within and outside the Armed Forces sector – means Veterans can access the right organisation who can support them. This is the first time a group of this kind has come together formally to deliver a service to help the Armed Forces community.

Reason we were needed

The British Armed Forces community is estimated to be around 6 million and growing by 20,000 annually. However, nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of veterans report feeling ‘confused’ when seeking support.

What was done

Connect Assist’s unique experience in delivering military helplines and 24 / 7 service model has placed us in a key position as the ‘glue’ that holds the Veterans’ Gateway together by providing all the front-end customer services, triage and CRM support.

Bringing together over 30 referral partners including Veterans UK, Mind and the Career Transition Partnership (with more to be added), was a huge achievement of partnership and collaboration. Our joint goal was to make the service is available to anyone who has served in the Armed Forces and the result has significant positive human impact in improving access to welfare services and helping veterans receive the support they deserve, faster.

The 24 hours a day, seven days a week chat, phone, and text message services is delivered by Connect Assist from our Nantgarw site. We are proud that our team includes veterans and other specialist advisors that enables us to comfortably adhere to the target SLA and requirements of the client. As part of this there is a full audit trail of all communications and customisable reports are available at both prearranged regular intervals (daily, weekly and monthly) and on an ad-hoc basis.

Outcomes

  • 24/7 Helpline
  • Oracle Service Cloud customer service platform and self-serve knowledgebase
  • Telephone (annual): 10,000 calls
  • Chat (annual): 5,000 conversations
  • Emails (annual): 4,500

 

Testimonial from service user

“Veterans’ Gateway makes it quick and easy by being a first point of contact, working with a range of organisations to ensure people are connected with the right support…I had help from a variety of organisations. I knew of all of them but I’d never have thought to go to them…The easier it is for veterans the better. If there is someone at the end of the phone who can advise where you should go, I think that is exactly what veterans need.”


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