Veterans marching at Armed Forces Day 2014 Pic: Gill Lawson

More needs to be done to support Armed Forces veterans in Preston according to a new study.

Councillors are calling for Preston City Council’s cabinet to endorse their recommendations for new initiatives to help veterans in the city.

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They call for establishing a policy which prioritises funding applicants to the city council who support veterans.

A Preston Handbook could be created listing all the voluntary and charitable organisations in Preston and the surrounding area which may be able to help veterans.

Another idea the city council is asked to explore is learning from work done by Blackpool City Council who use contractors who employ veterans.

There’s also a call to introduce an endorsement system for local charities which support veterans to ensure the public know they are giving to genuine causes.

Senior city council officials have cast doubt on whether the any ‘kitemark’ symbol could be introduced for veterans charities.

They write: “At present, any organisation wishing to carry out street collections need to be licenced by the council. This process does not look at the internal operation of the applicant only that it is a registered charity.

“The onus to assess the appropriateness of the internal operation of the organisation is on the Charity Commission. To provide a “kite mark” may place the Council in a difficult legal position of seemingly endorsing an organisation and open to criticism if the organisation subsequently falls foul. Additionally, the resource to make this work would be significant as there would need to be both a detailed initial assessment and subsequent audit.”

The report can be viewed in full on the city council website and is due to be discussed at the city council’s cabinet meeting on Wednesday 24 June at the Town Hall.

What do you think of the proposals? Do you think more needs to be done to support veterans? Let us know in the comments below