Remembrance Day is a time of coming together for our nation.

As we mourn the loss of service people and mark their bravery across conflicts, we encourage everyone to consider the 6,000 veterans currently sleeping rough in the UK.

Remembrance Day comes just one day after The Connection staff, service users and supporters gathered in St Martin’s Church to join their Service of Commemoration for those who have died homeless in the past year. Here, we paid respect to those who have passed in the last year while we continue to stand with people currently on the streets.

The list of names read at the service likely included veterans, who account for 5% of those sleeping rough in London. This figure doesn’t account for those who passed while experiencing other forms of homelessness, likely making the total figure much higher.

Why do veterans become homeless at such a frequent rate?

There is no one way to become homeless. Often, it is a mix of factors that lead to homelessness which interact including personal, social and economic factors. Sometimes, military service can be a cause of homelessness, but this is rare as a standalone factor. It is more likely that service history leads to other common causes of homelessness such as drug misuse.

These factors are often caused by traumatic experiences. This, of course, can include military history but can also be much broader. For instance, after returning home from conflict, a people may come across as defensive or aggressive in their home life. This could lead to divorce and in turn, money problems and a lack of places to stay as support networks are broken.

Essentially, a traumatic experience or series of events can lead to homelessness. What is unique about people with experience in the Armed Services is their continual exposure to trauma.

Going forward, what we can do?

Fortunately, services such as ours have decades of experience in supporting service people and it’s something the public are happy to support, especially on days like today.

This perhaps explains why the percentage of people sleeping rough from an Armed Forces background has shrunk greatly over the years.

Despite this, veterans deserve our support, much like anyone forced onto the streets. This Remembrance Day, and every other day, we will be here until every Londoner has a safe and comfortable home – whatever this may mean to each person we meet.

Please support veterans facing homelessness today.