Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust awards Combat Stress funding to create digital referral route

8 April 2025

Combat Stress is receiving £93,500 to create a direct digital referral route for organisations in the North East and West Midlands to refer veterans to our specialist services more easily.

The funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (AFCFT) will also be used to deliver webinars and training for partner organisations, create a database of warm referral partners, and deliver additional out of hours support to organisations through our 24-hour Helpline.

In the past, our professional referral form has been too complex for some charities and organisations that aren’t clinically driven. With the funding, we are now creating a dedicated online referral route for partners in the North East and the West Midlands, with a view to being able to roll this out across the UK in the future. The new referral route means that for those veterans who are unable or who find it too difficult to call us, a referral can be done on their behalf by partner organisations. As veterans present to each organisation with multiple needs, this will create much more collaborative working and remove the need for a veteran to re-tell their issues time and again.

The project is part of the new Thrive Together programme, which aims to build sustainable and resilient networks to ensure veterans receive prompt, effective and tailored support.