Our Journey
May 2019
Veterans Support Service (VSS) was registered with Companies House by the Co-Founders Simon & David whilst participating in a pilot project with the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) to assess the viability of a Veteran specific Peer Support Worker.
September 2019
Grant received from The National Lottery Award for All to host a Veterans Conference on 1 November in collaboration with LPFT and the Transition Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS) team.
August 2020
Funding received from Bishop Grosseteste University to provide peer support to veterans to go into either employment (which includes volunteering), education or training.
September 2020
The National Lottery Awards for All grant for the Veterans Conference in 2019, granted permission to use the underspend to enable VSS to provide peer support to veterans and their families.
May 2021
Funding received from The National Lottery Community Fund to develop VSS over the next 3 years with the support of an established third sector advisor.
September 2021
The National Lottery Awards for All provided additional funds to enable VSS to continue to provide peer support to veterans and their families.
November 2021
Our first ever Veterans & Families Open Day (aka Hub) was held at The Chappell Centre in Spalding. The plan is to hold an Open Day four times a year at various locations across Lincolnshire.
February 2022
Funding received from the Managed Care Network Wave 11 to provide peer support to veterans and their families in the Southern region of Lincolnshire.
March 2022
Banter & Brew began at The Chappell Centre in Spalding on the first Wednesday of every month from 1000 to 1200.
July 2022
Our monthly “Banter & Brew (Spalding)” event became a provisional member of Association of Service Drop-In Centres (ASDIC) and can now be found on the ASDIC Members Directory.
August 2022
VSS received the Armed Forces Covenant Employers Recognition Scheme Bronze Award.
October 2022
The National Lottery Awards for All provided additional funds to enable VSS to continue to provide peer support to veterans and their families.
October 2024
The National Lottery Community Fund granted funding for 5-years to enable VSS to continue to deliver services to veterans and their families across Lincolnshire and the surrounding areas.
January 2025
A new “Banter & Brew (Lincoln)” was established at the Moorland Community Centre, Moorland Avenue, Lincoln LN6 7NH. It meets every 2 weeks on a Monday 1000 to 1200 and was subsequently registered with ASDIC.
See “Upcoming Events” tab for the latest dates.
May 2025
“Banter & Brew (Spalding)” began meeting on the first & third Wednesday of each month from 1000 to 1200 and was also registered with ASDIC.
See “Upcoming Events” tab for the latest dates.
June 2025
A Help & Advice Drop-in Session was launched for members of the Armed Forces Community (including Veterans) at Pinchbeck Hub and Library. This will take place on the first Wednesday of every month from 1300 to 1500.
See “Upcoming Events” page for details.