North Yorkshire Council

 

Health and Adult Services

 

12 December 2025

 

Apart, not Alone Local Impact Grant

 

Report of the Corporate Director Health & Adult Services.

 

 

1.0      PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1      To seek views from the Executive Member – Health and Adult Services and to request approval from the Corporate Director – Health and Adult Services, in consultation with the Assistant Director – Resources to authorise the submission of a full application to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust of up to £300,000 for a three-year portfolio of projects and research to support military families facing service-related separation.

 

 

2.0      SUMMARY

 

2.1      In summer 2025, North Yorkshire Council successfully submitted an Expression of Interest to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust for their ‘Apart, not alone’ Local Impact grant.  The aim of the grant is to provide support for serving families facing challenges caused by service-related separation.  The Council have now been invited to submit a full application.  This is for a 3-year, £300,000 programme of work, in partnership with North Yorkshire Sport.  The programme comprises:

 

·         Activities to build and strengthen community connections

·         Emotional wellbeing training to better equip people to deliver peer support in their community

·         Nature-based/sports activities for returning service-people and their families that will be used to support reintegration

·         Development of a suite of resources specifically for young people in military families informed by insights of young people in military families in North Yorkshire

·         Action research to develop understanding of how to support military families facing separation

 

A decision will be made by the funders in Spring 2026, with an anticipated start date of Summer 2026.

 

 

3.0      BACKGROUND      

 

3.1      In 2024, North Yorkshire Council was awarded funding from National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to establish a Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC). It is one of only 30 Councils in the UK to have HDRC status.  The aim of HDRC North Yorkshire is to boost research capacity and capability within the council, and to embed a culture of using evidence when making decisions. HDRCs use research findings to understand how decisions impact on health and health inequalities. They also carry out research where evidence is not already available.  Applying for, and securing external funding for research is a core task of HDRC North Yorkshire.

 

3.2      The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust is a charity and non-departmental public body which provides grants aiming to support the Armed Forces community. The organisation provides funding across four key areas:

           

·         Non-core healthcare services for Veterans

·         Removing barriers to family life

·         Extra support, both in and after Service, for those that need help

·         Measures to integrate military and civilian communities and allow the Armed Forces community to participate as citizens

 

3.3      In summer 2025, The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust invited Expression of Interests for their ‘Apart, not alone’ Local Impact grant. This portfolio grant offers up to £300,000 to support delivery of projects over a period of up to three years. The aim of the grant is to provide support for serving families facing challenges caused by service-related separation. The grant is to fund projects that meet the following objectives:

 

·         Families feel more able to manage the impact of loneliness or isolation during periods of separation

·         Improved mental health and wellbeing for serving families

·         Improved understanding of effective models of support for serving families

·         Families experience fewer challenges during reintegration after deployment or extended separation

·         Enhanced collaboration and streamlined support pathways for the serving community through stronger partnerships and improved service integration

 

3.4      In July 2025, North Yorkshire Council, led by the team at HDRC North Yorkshire, submitted an Expression of Interest to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust Apart, not alone, Local Impact grant.  The proposal was to use research to build our understanding of how North Yorkshire Council, and its partners in the public, community and voluntary sectors can mitigate the impact of service-related separation for military connected families.

 

3.5      This Expression of Interest, was viewed favourably by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, and North Yorkshire Council have been invited to submit a full application.  Disappointingly, given HDRC North Yorkshire’s key aim of increasing research capacity and capability, one of their recommendations for our full application was to reduce the proportion of the grant to be spent on research, and increase the amount spent on activities.  The deadline for submission of the full application is 7 January 2026.

 

 

4.0      DETAIL OF SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

 

4.1       The HDRC North Yorkshire team have worked with colleagues across the council, and with partners in the voluntary and community sector to prepare a full application.  The programme of work designed retains an element of research but has a greater proportion of the £300,000 spend allocated to interventions and activities that can mitigate the impact of service-related separation for military connected families.

 

4.2.      The programme aims to provide military families facing separation with improved connections in their communities to tackle isolation and improve wellbeing. The programme will use an improved understanding of lived experiences of military connected families to inform service delivery, make support services more accessible and visible, and strengthen community ties. The programme has five work packages summarised below.

 

4.3       Community Connections: Engagement with military connected families has revealed a need for social support and improved connections into the community. Through collating and adding to existing mapping of community groups and support services in one place, the programme will improve awareness and accessibility of opportunities for receiving support in North Yorkshire. Social infrastructures can provide a valuable touchpoint for people experiencing social isolation as a result of family separation. The Tribe app might be used to deliver this element of the project. The project will also provide support for people with limited digital skills to access and use the app, through providing pop up digital support workshops in accessible community venues. This element of the programme will focus on the communities around Catterick Garrison and RAF Leaming.

 

4.4       Building Peer Support: Community engagement has shown that for people facing separation, understanding from others going through similar experiences is highly valued. Established community organisation Just B will provide emotional wellbeing training for volunteers to better equip people to deliver peer support in their community. Training will be repeated regularly, since the transience of the military population means the cohort trained may move to a new location during the project. Just B’s counsellors will also offer wellbeing support following regular community engagement events, as discussing separation is likely to be an emotive topic.

 

4.5       Moving Matters: Nature-based/sports activities for returning service-people and their families will be used to support reintegration. These will provide a structured and neutral space in which families can readjust to being together. Targeting this support to the reintegration period will raise awareness of the challenges of this time for many families. This project responds to recommendations of North Yorkshire Sport’s research to re-frame physical activity as time and space to re-connect with family, rather than as an individual health benefit.

 

4.6       Wellbeing resources for children & young people: North Yorkshire Council’s Children and Young People’s Service is currently delivering a significant programme of work transforming their mental health services. As part of this, The Go-To is being re-launched as a resource for young people, their parents/carers and health professionals providing support. This project will curate a suite of resources specifically for young people in military families guided by insights of young people in military families in North Yorkshire.

 

4.7       Understanding military families: Action research to develop understanding of how to support military families facing separation will be integrated across the portfolio. This will be carried out by researchers at the Veterans & Families Institute for Military Social Research, and HDRC North Yorkshire. The research aims to understand experiences of military families facing separation and to build an evidence base on which interventions and policy measures can be developed. The precise research questions and scope of evaluation will be developed with community groups.

 

 

5.0      POLICY IMPLICATIONS

 

5.1       HDRC North Yorkshire has identified military families and veterans as a key priority area for research.  Military populations are identified in the Council Plan as a key part of North Yorkshire’s demographic. The health inequalities and adverse health outcomes for military families and veterans are well documented.  This project engages directly with this priority group and aims to provide support which will have health and wellbeing benefits. The portfolio of projects is linked to key areas identified as priorities for HAS and will support the council in embedding research into service delivery.

 

5.2      North Yorkshire Council is a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant.  Councils who are signatories of the Covenant, work with partner organisations to provide a range of services that support serving personnel and their families. There is also an expectation that councils support veterans and their families to adjust from the Armed Forces to civilian life, including housing, money advice, employment support, schools and health and wellbeing services.  The ambition of this funding bid demonstrates our commitment to local delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant.

 

 

6.0      ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

 

6.1      HDRC North Yorkshire has identified this funding call as an excellent opportunity to bring resources into the council to support its objectives. There are currently no other funding calls currently open which would support the delivery of the proposed programme of work.

 

 

7.0      FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

7.1      Of the £300,000 applied for (£100,000 per year), it is anticipated that spend will be allocated as detailed in the table below. Spend for each line of the budget is split evenly across the three years.

 

           

Organisation

Activity

Amount

Just B

Training and counselling

£30,000

CYPS/NYC

Co-creation of mental wellbeing resources for military connected young people

£18,000

North Yorkshire Sport/NYC

Project coordination

Role working across NYC localities team and North Yorkshire sport

£90,000

North Yorkshire Sport

Movement/sports activities

£60,000

North Yorkshire Sport/NYC

Community engagement – budget for training, venue hire, translator costs

 

£30,000

Anglia Ruskin University

Academic research

£55, 143

 

Flexible fund, administered through Localities team, NYC for community activities

£16,500

 

 

£299,643

 

 

 

7.2      If successful, the team will ensure that systems are in place to provide governance and oversight, so that the budget is under control, costs are managed, value for money is maximised and benefits realised.  As part of project close down, mitigations will ensure there are no ongoing costs for the Council.

 

 

8.0      LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

8.1      If we are successful, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be prepared and signed between North Yorkshire Council as lead applicant, and the rest of the project team (including Anglia Ruskin University and VCSE partners).  The MOU will include the final funding allocation and set out expectations for how the partners will work together to deliver the proposal.

 

 

9.0       CONSULTATION UNDERTAKEN AND RESPONSES

 

9.1       The project proposal has been developed through discussion with project partners, and in response to engagement with military families in Catterick. If our application is successful, HDRC North Yorkshire will continue to develop the proposed programme of work in collaboration with project partners (including Anglia Ruskin University), and with stakeholders including people with lived experience of service-related separation.

 

9.2      The proposal also draws on insight from the Yorkshire Sport Feasibility Study that mapped provisions, services and facilities in place and available in North Yorkshire to support military personnel, veterans, and their families.

 

 

10.0    IMPACT ON OTHER SERVICES/ORGANISATIONS

 

10.1    If successful, we anticipate benefits to military families and communities through improved understandings of the challenges they face around service-related separation, and improved delivery of services building on this evidence. We anticipate widening access to a range of existing support services for military families and improving outcomes in wellbeing and social isolation as a result.

 

 

11.0    HUMAN RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS

 

11.1    If successful, a part time fixed term post (likely grade J/K) will be created for the three years of the programme. This will be jointly hosted between North Yorkshire Council (Localities Team/Local Engagement) and North Yorkshire Sport.  This post will provide programme management and coordinate delivery of the activities.

 

 

12.0    EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

 

12.1    This bid provides direct support for the Armed Forces Community, one of North Yorkshire Council’s directly targets one of the.  The bid has been developed through discussion with project partners working with this community (e.g. North Yorkshire Sport, MoD and NHS providers) and in response to engagement with military families in Catterick.  It is not anticipated that the bid submission will have any notable equality impact.  If successful in our application, a detailed equalities impact assessment will be undertaken as part of project set up.

 

 

13.0    CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

 

13.1    It is not anticipated that the bid will have any notable climate impact. If successful in our application, a climate change assessment will be undertaken as part of project set up.

 

 

14.0    CONCLUSION

 

14.1       HDRC North Yorkshire has identified military families and veterans as a key priority and an under-researched population.  The group is also a priority for the Council, with Catterick Garrison, one of the largest military establishments in the UK within the County. The Apart, not Alone Local Impact Grant provides an opportunity for the Council to secure additional resources to deliver services and carry out research to more effectively support this important population. 

 

 

15.0    REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

15.1    To enable the Council to continue to develop its work supporting military families and to bring additional resources to carry out research in this area.

 

 

16.0

RECOMMENDATION

 

To seek views from the Executive Member – Health and Adult Services and to request approval from the Corporate Director – Health and Adult Services, in consultation with the Assistant Director – Resources to authorise the submission of a full application to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust of up to £300,000 for a three-year portfolio of projects and research to support military families facing service-related separation

 

 

Report Author

Louise Wallace, Director of Public Health

 

 

Appendices

None