AS part of the Royal British Legion’s Gateway Strategy, the Legion is working to make it easier for those we support to understand and use our services by working in collaboration and partnership with other organisations. The Veterans' Gateway is the first step in this journey.

Veterans' Gateway aims to be the first point of contact for veterans or their families seeking information, advice and support.

As the gateway to a network of expert partners – both within and outside of the Armed Forces sector – Veterans' Gateway will connect users with the right support organisation for their needs, quickly and easily. This simplification of the system has been brought about by a consortium of partners working collaboratively and led by the Legion.

The consortium is made up of the Legion, SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity, Poppyscotland and Combat Stress, with funding from The Covenant Fund. Our connection with referral partners such as Shelter, Mind and other specialists allows us to be the gateway to a range of support that veterans and their families might need but struggle to find.

The veterans’ gateway website itself covers the complex array of topics that the community faces, providing a self-help functionality where users can search for the matters concerning them. It highlights the partners Veterans' Gateway can connect users with and the main phone line users can call - 0808 802 1212.

Although the service is up and running from today, the full public launch will be on 25 May 2017. This phase of 'Go Live' between now and then is important so we can test our functionality before the wider launch.

In the meantime, please www.veteransgateway.co.uk and follow our social media channels for further updates.

• twitter.com/VeteransGateway

• facebook.com/VeteransGateway

GARETH JENKINS

Hon. Secretary

Pershore & District Branch

Royal British Legion