Veterans Aid's achievements validated by independent report
Not many organisations are willing to open their books to scrutiny and invite an independent audit of their activities - yet the frontline charity Veterans Aid has done so twice. CEO Professor Hugh Milroy explains why.
I wonder how many of us have been moved to donate to a charity because something has touched us personally - and then later reflected on whether our £5, £50 or £500 donation has made any difference? Generosity tends to be spontaneous, rarely followed by investigation of the recipient’s credentials or finances. And yet we are always saddened when those fronting a worthy cause are found to be inept, greedy or just plain corrupt.
I mention these things because Veterans Aid has, for the second time, invited independent auditors to examine and evaluate its activities.
The Analysis of the Costs & Benefits of Veterans Aid Support, produced by our new strategic partner, Cambridge Econometrics, has confirmed that Veterans Aid's interventions over the course of a year achieved net benefits (i.e. savings to society) of up to £2.6m - quite a feat for a charity with a turnover of under £2m. It also confirmed that the success rate of our interventions remains stable at around 90 per cent.
It is six years since we invited a similar audit, which was conducted by PBE (then Pro Bono Economics). The world has become a much more uncertain place since then and we felt it was time, once again, to seek external verification of our value and outcomes. We did this for several reasons: To demonstrate transparency and show our donors how their money is spent; to illustrate the effectiveness of our unique Welfare to Wellbeing© model to a wider public and to explore how we could improve our performance. This latter was achieved by using the exercise to enhance the bespoke database that we use to log, track and analyse activity.
I make this announcement with some pride, because - in military parlance - we 'volunteered for the guardhouse'. The study was independent. Suitably anonymised to comply with GDPR, we opened our books and shared our data - cautiously confident of a good outcome; hopeful and excited about getting confirmation that we were still on track, but perhaps, nevertheless, a little nervous.
The study, which utilised the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s CBA model, was conducted using data provided by us for a sample of veterans supported in 2022/23. It assessed the costs incurred by us to support these veterans and quantified the potential benefit of the successful outcomes reached in the form of fiscal saving, increased employment income, and wider benefits to society.
To clarify, 'success' in this context, means restoring sustainable independence to veterans formerly in crisis. We confirm this by persistence; by making six, 12 and 18 month follow-up assessments of clients no longer under our direct care. For example, if addicts are still 'clean', alcoholics still sober, the once homeless still flourishing and living in suitable accommodation, we consider that our interventions have been successful.
Our primary focus is - and will continue to be - on prevention, upon which it is impossible to put an absolute value, but this is reflected in the study. While we already knew that poverty was the main driver to seek VA's help, other significant facts emerged as a result of the data analysis. For example:
- Provision of crisis accommodation stood out as the most effective intervention, achieving a 96 per cent success rate - an outcome that reflects the charity's core commitment to addressing homelessness1
- 29 per cent of clients were referred to VA from other UK service charities.
- The report calculated a benefits-to-cost ratio of between 2 and 5, indicating a positive return on investment in both economic and social terms.
The full report is available online and goes into much greater detail about how VA operates and what it deals with ( e.g. the consequences of poverty, mental health issues, unemployment, alcohol/drug misuse, relationship breakdown, illness, domestic violence, immigration status, and inability to cope due to dismissal from prison, hospital or due to CDT failure.
I believe that a paradigm shift is needed in charity behaviour, towards a complete focus on beneficiaries - and that will only be achieved through transparency - not just by 'balancing the books' and 'managing investments', nor in simple number crunching, but through honesty about what is needed and speedier allocation of funds to address it.
While our focus has been on veterans experiencing homelessness, the success of our work has far broader relevance. This project marked a bold and challenging shift for our charity; one that pushed us beyond traditional approaches. In the wake of COVID-19, with public resources under strain and demand continuing to rise, I believe this kind of innovation is exactly what’s needed to create real, lasting impact in tackling homelessness. What works for veterans can - and should - inform solutions for anyone at risk of sleeping rough. This isn’t a theory; it’s a functioning model.
We must move beyond good intentions and begin investing in strategies that are proven to work - validated by outcomes-based data and independent evaluation. For too long, homelessness policies have lacked the rigorous evidence needed to drive meaningful change. That is no longer acceptable.
At the heart of the issue is poverty. If we fail to address it head-on with targeted, data-driven, and evidence-backed interventions, we will continue to pour money into efforts that may be compassionate, but ultimately ineffective. The cost of inaction -or misdirected action - is steep: in terms of public funding and inhuman lives.
Our approach delivers measurable reductions in rough sleeping. Our prevention strategies are effective and grounded in evidence. While no solution will fit every circumstance, this model offers a viable, scalable alternative that deserves serious attention. If we are truly committed to ending rough sleeping, we must align our policies and funding with approaches that deliver real results. Here is one such example. Our outcomes clearly illustrate that there is an opportunity to drive lasting change is in front of us. Let’s seize it.
PBE Senior Project Manager Nadine Cameron said, "We're proud to have helped Veterans Aid communicate the impact of their work through our volunteer matching service. With a history of successful collaborations with Cambridge Econometrics, we trusted their expertise to support Veterans Aid. We commend Veterans Aid for their dedication to improving data collection and evaluation practices, which allowed for comprehensive analysis and demonstration of the profound impact of their work. This successful partnership underscores our commitment to supporting organisations that make a significant difference in the lives of those experiencing wellbeing poverty in the UK."
Cambridge Econometrics Chief Operations Officer Dr Ben Gardiner said, ‘’It has been an honour to have been partnered with Veterans Aid by PBE to work on such a vital piece of economic analysis, using our expertise to bring to life the scale and depth of the Charity's impact - not only for the veterans who benefit from their support, but also the net benefit their work brings to the UK economy and wider society as a whole. Working with Veterans Aid has been a positive and enjoyable experience for both myself and report co-author Vaidehi Maheshwari, and we hope the support we have provided will have a lasting impact for the Charity over the years to come."
Footnote: "Veterans Aid extends its thanks to PBE for its role in connecting our Charity with Cambridge Econometrics through its corporate matching scheme. We are particularly thankful to Cambridge Econometrics for providing a dedicated team, Vaidehi Maheshwari and Dr Ben Gardiner, to quantify the economic and social value of our interventions. This partnership represents advancement in our ability to measure and communicate the economic impact of our work with veterans in crisis."- VA Chief of Staff Natalia Michaelides.
*The full report (Analysis of the Costs & Benefits of Veterans Aid Support) is available on the Veterans Aid website.
- Since 2018, when it underwent an £8m+ transformation, VA's own residential facility, New Belvedere House, has provided 125,334 nights of accommodation for veterans who would otherwise have been homeless.
