Veterans Information Point

Age UK Portsmouth
The Bradbury Centre
16-18 Kingston Road
Portsmouth
Hampshire
PO1 5RZ
United Kingdom

Email: enquiries@ageukportsmouth.org.uk
Telephone: 02392 883500

Providing free information and advice for Forces veterans and active service personnel in Portsmouth.

The Veterans Information Point is supported by the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity and Greenwich Hospital, and has been set up to offer free, independent and confidential information, advice and support to military veterans and active servicemen and women in Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.

The Veterans Information Point is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 4:45pm (4.30pm on Fridays) at the Bradbury Centre. We can offer telephone advice or face-to-face office appointments and even home visits if necessary.

Issues we can help you with

• Benefits and entitlements including War and Armed Forces Pensions
• Leisure and social activities including access to regimental associations
• Applying for a service medal or Veterans Badge
• Mental health support including PTSD
• Housing options
• Money matters
• Energy efficiency for your home
• Staying independent at home
• Family and personal matters
• Coping with bereavement
• Wills and funeral planning
• Legal issues
• Signposting to other agencies for additional services and support

Welfare benefits

Benefits checks are one of our most common requests, and last year we were able to help claim over £1.3 million in benefits for people living in the Portsmouth area. It is estimated that every year over £3.5 billion of benefits go unclaimed across the country, with three million older people living below the poverty line.

Many people are put off claiming either by the complexity of the benefits system, or they assume they cannot claim anything because they have some savings or own their home.

Our Veterans Information Adviser and team of trained volunteers can check to see if you are entitled to claim any welfare or disability benefits, and can help you through the claims process from start to finish. If needed we can give you assistance filling in all of the forms.

We need more volunteers

Ideally we are looking for people with a Forces background, but anyone who can spare an hour or two a week to give help and advice to veterans would be welcome. Volunteers will need to undergo a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check and will be fully trained to ensure that the information, advice and support they provide is accurate and appropriate for our service users’ needs.