New drop in service will help more Serving personnel and veterans in Southport

The Royal British Legion has launched a welfare drop in service from Byng House, bringing advice and support even closer to the Armed Forces community.

The Legion’s Advice and Information Officer, Sarah Abbotson, will be available at  Byng House, 30 The Promenade every first and third Thursday of the month from 12pm to 3pm to deliver advice and support to Serving personnel, veterans and their dependants, such as offering advice on debt management and helping people to apply for social housing. Sarah will also signpost people to other welfare services and can discuss membership with those wanting to join the Legion.

Sarah said: “My welfare sessions in Southport are part of the Legion’s mission to bring our services closer to those who need it most. I’ll be available for face to face meetings to discuss any issues, so please do take the opportunity to call in if you need advice on housing support, welfare, managing personal finances plus much more.”

Since December 2013, the Legion has opened 13 Pop In Centres in major cities and towns across the UK as part of the charity’s biggest transformation in its 93 year history. Each centre offers a welcoming space for Service personnel and veterans to get practical help and advice, and for members of the public to find out more about the wide range of services and community activities provided by the Legion. Three more will open in early 2015.

The driver behind the change in the Legion’s way of working came from research conducted in 2005 and 2010 into the demographic and long-term needs of the Armed Forces community. Respondents said it was difficult to find the help they needed, either because of not knowing who to go to and what services were on offer, or because this information was hard to access.

Gillian McKinnon, the Legion’s Area Manager for Merseyside and Cheshire, added: “Both nationally and locally, the Legion recognises that the profile of our beneficiaries is constantly changing and that we must continue to improve our services to reflect that need.

“After recent changes at the Legion, beneficiaries can now pick up the phone to a trained adviser via our national Freephone number, look online for information or come along to our welfare session in Southport where they can talk face to face with our team.”

Submit News Contact us with your community, business or sport news. Phone 07581350321

Email ots@otsnews.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/Otsnews-Southport-1575528676012039/

Twitter  www.twitter.com/onthespot_news

Breaking local news as it happens, searchable archives with photographs, the ability to instantly comment on news articles – there are so many advantages to OTS (Onthespot) News.

If you want your news read locally online then send it to ots@otsnews.co.uk – relying only on the newspaper is to restrict yourself to an ever reducing audience.