Mayor Of London Opens Refurbished Facility For Homeless Veterans

New Belvedere House aims to provide temporary accommodation for homeless veterans in London.

The Mayor of London has opened a refurbished facility designed to help homeless veterans and guide them back into independence.

The charity behind the project, Veterans Aid, said renovation work on New Belvedere House has taken four years and cost around £8 million. It will become a short-term residential facility for up to 66 homeless veterans in London.

The LIBOR fund, Independent/Evening Standard newspapers, Bloomberg, HRH Prince Philip and BFBS were among the organisations and businesses that provided funds for the project.

London's City Hall provided £1.6 million towards the refurbishment and the Mayor of London said "with the right support veterans can have fulfilling lives".

"These sorts of centres are a lifeline. They give veterans who have fallen on tough times a helping hand to allow them to have dignity and fulfill their potential"

Veterans Aid is 86 years old and the charity has been using New Belvadere House for 45 years. The say they have helped more than 1,500 veterans who would otherwise have been homeless and the renovation was designed with their needs in mind.

Army veteran Peter Fanning was been a regular resident and says it changes his life. 

"It's an ongoing thing, it's not an easy thing to do - it takes several weeks or several months in some cases (to leave)

"But since being here the staff have helped us (other veterans) tremendously - if we've got a problem, we can sit down and talk to them and they help us."

Veterans Aid now say they want to see more done to tackle the cause of homelessness in the veterans community and for there to be a much wider focus on prevention as much as treatment.