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A national veterans’ community in development

Your service ends. Your contribution doesn’t.

Belong. Build. Contribute. Inspire.

We’re building a national community for veterans, service leavers and their families, with plans for a first flagship in Swansea.
A place to find friendship, develop your strengths and create opportunities together. You don’t have to be in crisis to belong.

Get involved See how it works
Concept artwork. Two walkers with backpacks stand on a hilltop at sunset, looking out over a wide bay and the lights of a coastal city, somewhere to move towards.
Concept artwork

What we’re building

  1. A community across the UK

    Friendship, activities and opportunities, wherever you live.

    Who it’s for

  2. A flagship in Swansea

    A planned purpose-built base, bringing accommodation, learning and activity together.

    The flagship

  3. Routes into the next chapter

    Skills, qualifications, work and independent living, with your community behind you.

    The programme

Where we are now

Steady Ground is in its founding stage. We’re forming the founding group now, bringing together veterans, families and the people with the skills and resources to build it. Once enough people have joined, we’ll hold the first meet-up. The Swansea flagship and the residential programme are in development, and the app is being designed.

Who’s building it Get updates

Why Steady Ground

People don’t lose their value when one chapter of their life ends.

Steady Ground isn’t built around what veterans have lost. It’s built around what they still carry.

Shared purpose, standards, training, humour and looking after the person beside you shouldn’t disappear when service ends. Steady Ground carries them into a new setting, with people to build alongside, opportunities to pursue and, whenever you want it, the chance to help others. Veterans helping veterans, and the wider community.

If you served, there is a place for you here, whether you need something, want to build something or have something to give. Your family is welcome too.

You don’t have to live here to belong here.

Just leaving, or long since left

Whichever service you were in, whether you left recently or years ago, after a long career or a short one, and whatever you achieved, you are welcome here.

Starting fresh, or already thriving

Come for friendship, challenge, learning or a new opportunity, whether you’re finding your feet or already doing well. Share your experience when you want to. You have a place here either way.

Families are part of it

Military families move, change schools and lose friendships again and again. Partners and children belong here in their own right.

Experience worth bringing together.

Veterans are a large community with a great deal to give, and room for more connection.

More than

2 million

veterans recorded across Great Britain.

Census 2021 (England and Wales) and 2022 (Scotland). People aged 16 and over.

ONS combined census dataset

An estimated

92,800

veterans were living in Wales in 2025.

ONS official statistics in development. People aged 16 and over at 30 June 2025. Likely to be an undercount.

ONS veterans bulletin 2025

31.3%

of survey respondents reported feeling lonely always, often or some of the time.

UK Veterans’ Survey 2022; weighted estimate.

Health and wellbeing analysis
Sources and method

The census figure combines the England and Wales Census 2021 with Scotland’s Census 2022. It counts people aged 16 and over who said they had previously served in the UK Armed Forces. It is rounded, and it excludes Northern Ireland, so it is not a current UK total.

The Wales figure is an ONS estimate of people aged 16 and over living in Wales on 30 June 2025 who had previously served in the UK Armed Forces. ONS produced it by linking Census 2021 answers and Ministry of Defence records of service leavers to its population data. It is rounded to the nearest hundred.

ONS describes these as official statistics in development and says they are likely to underestimate the total number of veterans. They use a different method from the census, and ONS says the two should not be compared. Please read each figure on its own and do not add them together or take one from the other.

The last two figures come from the UK Veterans’ Survey 2022. Taking part was voluntary. The published results are weighted to better represent the wider veteran population, but weighting cannot remove all selection bias. The loneliness figure combines people who said they felt lonely always, often or some of the time.

The sources are ONS, UK armed forces veterans in Great Britain, published 13 June 2024; ONS, UK armed forces veterans in England and Wales, 2024 and 2025, published 13 October 2026; GOV.UK, health and wellbeing of UK armed forces veterans, published 4 December 2024; and GOV.UK, employment, skills and volunteering of UK armed forces veterans, published 23 April 2025.

The source for the census and Wales figures is the Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence. The survey figures are Crown copyright and are used under the same licence.

How it works

Put experience to work.

Steady Ground is being built to bring veterans, service leavers and their families together, to build purposeful civilian lives through shared activity, opportunity and service to others.

Four parts reinforce one another. Come for the company, the challenge or something useful to learn, and the same activity builds skills, routine and new opportunities, with the chance to help someone else whenever it’s right for you.

  • Belong

    A community, a flagship and a place to return to. Friendships, shared meals, families, activities and adventure.

  • Build

    Skills, qualifications, apprenticeships, fitness and mentoring, towards an ambitious next chapter.

  • Contribute

    Mentoring other veterans, practical projects, volunteering and cooking for people facing hardship.

  • Inspire

    Stories that carry the idea further, beginning with the Steady Ground Six. Meet The Six

It will work as a network as well as a place, connecting people with opportunities right across the UK, with an app, being designed now, as one way in. More about the app

  1. Belong

    Somewhere to go, and people who expect you.

  2. Try

    Have a go at something new, at your own pace.

  3. Learn

    Pick up a practical skill from people who know it.

  4. Show what you can do

    Use what you bring and what you learn, on something fixed, cooked or finished.

  5. Choose direction

    Decide what comes next, whether that’s a course, a role or a goal.

  6. Contribute

    Pass it on. Teach, lead and welcome someone new.

Permanent belonging. Changing roles.

And round again, as the person who was welcomed welcomes someone new.

“They’re not just getting the service. They become part of the service.”

The idea at the heart of Steady Ground

Contribution is an opportunity, never a debt. Nobody owes anything for the help they receive.

The programme

Different tools. Same mission.

  • Skills that lead to qualifications.
  • Connections that open opportunities.
  • Participation that grows into contribution.
Explore the full programme
Concept artwork. A warm evening workshop, with timber being carved at the bench and a bike being repaired in a stand.

Capability + Contribution

01 · Make and learn

Learn something useful. Build something real.

Repair bikes, work with timber, learn practical trades and build projects that work. The point isn’t busywork. It’s being able to look at something and say, I did that.

Learn. Fix. Build. Pass it on. Every skill you pick up here is one you can teach the next person, with routes into qualifications, repair projects and work.

More about the workshop
Concept artwork. A small group sea kayaks along a rugged stretch of South Wales coast, paddling past the cliffs in bright afternoon light.

Agency + Purpose

02 · Move and explore

Get outside. Go somewhere.

From mountain days and woodland walks to surfing, kayaking and coasteering on the Gower coast, starting achievable and building towards longer expeditions across Gower and the Brecon Beacons.

Each trip builds planning, navigation, safety and leadership, and can count towards outdoor, watersports and instructor qualifications with the right partners.

More about the outdoor programme
Concept artwork. Coasteering on a rocky shore below the cliffs, with a hand reaching down to help someone out of the sea while others climb and swim nearby.

Resilience + Capability

03 · Train and take on challenge

Stronger is something you practise.

Start where you are, with coached training and challenge that build towards the goals you choose.

A training space for strength, fitness and mobility, and outdoor challenges that carry on when the weather doesn’t cooperate. You turn up. You practise. You improve.

More about training
Concept artwork. A bright, daylit community kitchen, with hot food being ladled into containers along a long steel counter lined with meals ready to go out.

Contribution + Belonging

04 · Cook, share and serve

Cook for yourself. Cook together. Cook for someone else.

A good meal is one of the greatest gifts you can give. The base is being designed around a shared kitchen where anyone can become a confident cook, learning food safety, cooking for themselves and sitting down to eat together.

The same kitchen is designed to prepare meals with local organisations for people facing homelessness and hardship, and not just in Swansea. In time, a food van could take those meals further, with qualifications and community café experience along the way.

More about the community kitchen
Concept artwork. Raised vegetable beds being planted and watered beside a greenhouse, with the sea beyond.

Contribution + Belonging

05 · Grow

Grow something that needs you to come back.

Raised beds, herbs, vegetables and a greenhouse are part of the design, bringing patience, routine and responsibility you can see.

From the raised bed to the shared table. Grow → cook → share.

More about growing
Concept artwork. A quiet evening of reading and tea beside a chessboard, in a lamplit room lined with books and plants.

Belonging + Purpose

06 · Reflect and reconnect

Think it through. Choose well.

Philosophy, reading, journalling and thoughtful conversation give people room to reflect, weigh things up and develop good judgement.

There’s room to slow down too. A cup of tea, company without pressure, or a game of chess if you want one.

More about reflection
Concept artwork. A busy community hall in the evening, with a stage being set up, chairs being stacked and tea shared with neighbours while a dog is made a fuss of.

Belonging + Contribution

07 · Gather and give back

Make it together. Open the doors.

Coffee clubs, walk-and-talks, beach days, shows, friendly competitions and family days that bring veterans, families and neighbours together.

Members will help run them, first at the Swansea base and then, as the community grows, further afield.

More about gathering and giving back
Illustrative aerial view of Swansea at sunset, looking across the marina and docks to the long curve of Swansea Bay and the open sea.
Swansea Bay · Illustrative image
Swansea Abertawe

The Swansea flagship

A Welsh base.
A national ambition.

A planned purpose-built flagship that would bring community, learning, activity and a residential programme together in one place, and show what a joined-up next chapter can look like.

The flagship would be the first physical home of a national idea, and it should be iconic, not indulgent. If veterans keep their value after service, the place built for their next chapter should show it, recognisable from across the waterfront, welcoming to use and built around the people inside it. Securing a site, funding and permissions is part of the work ahead.

Around 115,000 veterans aged 16 and over were recorded in Wales in Census 2021. Welsh Government census analysis

What the flagship would bring together

  1. A café and shared spaces for everyday connection
  2. A community kitchen for cooking, nutrition and contribution
  3. A gym and space to train
  4. Workshops for practical and creative skills
  5. Rooms for learning, qualifications and employment support
  6. Space for performances, gatherings and community events
  7. A separate residential programme for structured development
  8. Space for organisations working with veterans and families

All of it would be designed as a psychologically informed environment, with natural light, nature, good food, exercise, useful routine and quieter space alongside the busy ones.

Concept artwork of how the flagship could look. A brick and glass high-rise with balconies at sunset, the Steady Ground emblem and name on the wall beside a lit entrance, planters along a terrace above the sea.
How the flagship could look

The residential programme

A strong foundation for what comes next.

  1. Settle in
  2. Build direction
  3. Move forward

For some veterans, moving forward also means having a stable place to live. The proposed residential programme is for veterans who would benefit from a stable base and structured development, with personal goals, practical learning, shared responsibilities and a plan for their next step. The programme and who it is for are still being developed.

Residential applications aren’t open yet, and registering interest doesn’t reserve accommodation. You don’t need residential support to belong to the wider community. Hear when it opens

Need housing help now? Contact your local council’s housing team, or the Housing Executive in Northern Ireland.

Illustrative view of a long sandy surf beach on Gower from the clifftop, waves rolling in, green hills and a winding path, with a surfboard resting on the grass in the foreground.
Rhossili Bay, Gower · Illustrative image

Gower and the coast

The water is part of it.

Surfing asks something different of you. You have to read the water, find your balance, control your breathing and respond to what is happening in front of you. It demands attention, patience and effort, and for a while there is very little room for anything else.

With Swansea and the Gower coast on the doorstep, we want the water to be part of Steady Ground. Surfing, paddling and coastal adventure offer challenge, skill and shared experience. Not therapy by another name, but something worth learning, getting better at and coming back for.

Gower is home to some of the UK’s best known surf beaches.

  • SwanseaAbertawe
  • Mumbles4 miles
  • Langland Bay5 miles
  • Three Cliffs Bay8 miles
  • Port Eynon12 miles
  • Llangennith15 miles
  • Worm's Head16 miles
Swansea and the Gower coast. Rings every 5 miles from Swansea, as the crow flies. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Illustrative view at sunrise from a summit in Bannau Brycheiniog, looking along a steep grassy ridge to a pointed peak, with green valleys and morning mist below.
Bannau Brycheiniog · Illustrative image

Bannau Brycheiniog

The mountains are part of it too.

The mountains ask for a different kind of focus. You have to read the ground, make decisions, keep moving when the weather changes and learn to trust your judgement. Navigation, endurance and time spent outside build confidence in a very practical way, by doing something difficult, then discovering you can do more than you thought.

Bannau Brycheiniog, the Brecon Beacons, is within easy reach of Swansea, giving Steady Ground access to some of the best mountain country in South Wales. Mountain days, navigation training and longer expeditions can begin with something achievable and build towards bigger objectives, whether new skills, qualifications, leadership, challenge, or simply the satisfaction of reaching somewhere under your own steam.

  • SwanseaAbertawe
  • Fan Brycheiniog802 m · 21 miles
  • Pen y Fan886 m · 28 miles
  • BreconAberhonddu · 33 miles
Swansea to Brecon and Bannau Brycheiniog. Rings every 10 miles from Swansea, as the crow flies. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Our next steps

How Steady Ground takes shape.

Two things happen side by side. The national community grows while the Swansea flagship is established.

Unite

Bring together veterans, families and the people with the skills and resources to build Steady Ground.

Now

Side by side

Activate

Start shared activity, develop the national community and make useful opportunities easier to find.

Establish

Secure the site, funding, design and permissions for the Swansea flagship.

Open

Bring the base into daily use, with the kitchen, gym, learning spaces, community activity and residential programme.

Grow

Extend useful activity, partnerships and opportunities across the UK, building on what works.

Who’s building it

Built by people who understand the ground.

Steady Ground is being built by a small founding team with military experience, and a shared belief that service, capability and belonging should not disappear when someone leaves the forces.

We’re developing the first Steady Ground base in Wales, building partnerships and shaping the organisation with veterans, local communities, charities, businesses and public bodies.

There’s no large head office behind this project. At this stage, the people building it are the people answering the emails, visiting potential sites, speaking to potential partners and turning the idea into something real. If you contact us, you’ll hear directly from the founding team.

  • The Steady Ground Six

    Show what Steady Ground believes.

  • The founding team

    Is building it, and answers every message.

  • Partners and a future board

    Will help govern and deliver it as it grows.

Want to help build Steady Ground?

Whether you represent a veteran organisation, business, local authority, funder, landowner or community group, or simply believe you could contribute, we’d like to hear from you.

Get in touch

Founding support

Help establish the first Steady Ground flagship.

We’re bringing together the people, funding and expertise to grow a national community and give it a first physical home in Swansea.

Help shape the building, open routes into learning and work, or provide the backing that moves the next stage forward. The first step is a conversation.

Illustrative view of the Sail Bridge in Swansea at sunset, a white cable-stayed footbridge with moored boats and waterfront apartments reflected in still water.
Sail Bridge, Swansea · Illustrative image

  1. Funding and major support

    Development work, the building itself and sustainable programme delivery.

    Discuss major support

  2. Land, design and construction

    Site, architecture, surveys, engineering and the expertise to deliver a purpose-built base.

    Help shape the building

  3. Programme and opportunity partners

    Employers, education providers, instructors, specialist support and community organisations that open doors to learning and work.

    Open a route into learning

We want partnerships that create real opportunities. Our principle is simple. A partner should be able to point to what their involvement made possible, whether that is training, employment, equipment, access, experience or something else of lasting value.

Financial supporters will be recognised and thanked for the part they play in helping Steady Ground grow.

What your backing makes possible

Get involved

Bring what you can. Help build what comes next.

Veterans, service leavers and their families, join the founding community and help decide what we build first, whether you’re looking for an opportunity or have one to share. Organisations, bring us the requirement, the people, skills or capability you need, and we’ll explore how to meet it. Supporters, tell us what you could bring. Choose the options that fit, and the founding team will use your enquiry to start a conversation about a practical next step.

Help shape the community Bring us a requirement Offer your time or skills

Tell us how you’d like to be involved

Choose all the ways you’d like to be involved. Add a short message if you’re telling us what you need, or offering funding, expertise, an introduction or an organisation’s support. Registering helps us understand what people want to take part in and what organisations could offer, and starts a conversation about the next step.

This form isn’t connected yet, so nothing you enter will be sent.

How would you like to be involved?

Select all that apply.

Veterans, service leavers and their families

Organisations

Anyone who’d like to help

What interests you? Choose any that appeal
What interests you?

Needed if you’re telling us what you need, or offering funding, expertise, an introduction or an organisation’s support. Please don’t include health or personal case details.

Maximum 1,000 characters0 / 1,000

We’ll only use your details to reply to you, and to let you know when anything you’ve asked to hear about opens. Sending an enquiry doesn’t add you to our mailing list unless you tick the box asking for our news. Read the privacy notice.

Stay in the loop

Stay close to Steady Ground.

Just want occasional news? Subscribe for updates on how Steady Ground is taking shape, and hear first when we hold the first meet-up. You’ll only get updates if you ask for them, and you can unsubscribe from any email.

Questions

Good questions. Clear answers.

Is Steady Ground open yet?

Not yet. Steady Ground is in its founding stage, so there are no activities, premises or residential places today. We’re forming the founding group now, and the Swansea flagship, the residential programme and the app are all in development. Use the form on this page to register your interest or ask for our news.

What is Steady Ground?

Steady Ground is a national community in development for veterans, service leavers and their families, with a first flagship planned in Swansea. It is being built around belonging, learning, opportunity and contribution. It is independently organised and in its founding stage.

Who can be part of Steady Ground?

Every veteran is welcome, along with service leavers and their families, whatever your rank or role. If you served, Steady Ground is being built with you in mind, and you don’t have to be in crisis to belong. Being part of it can mean learning something new, meeting people, contributing your skills, mentoring, or simply staying connected.

Do I have to live at the base, or in Wales?

No. We’re building a UK-wide community, with plans for a first flagship in Swansea. The residential programme would be one part of what the base offers, and you don’t have to live here to belong here.

What happens when I leave the Armed Forces?

You should know there is a place to turn for your next chapter. That is the role Steady Ground is being built to play, as a community where you and your family are welcome to get involved. Steady Ground is independently organised.

How can I get involved now?

We’re bringing the founding community together now. Use the form on this page to tell us how you’d like to be involved, and we’ll be in touch as activities and opportunities open.Registration will open through the form on this page. Residential applications will be announced when they open.

Can my organisation contribute?

Yes. Organisations can offer jobs, apprenticeships, training or qualifications, run activities, or share expertise, equipment or facilities. You can also bring us the requirement. Tell us the people or skills you need, and we’ll look at how the community can help. Tick what fits in the form, and we’ll gladly share the difference you make.

Do you work with other veterans’ charities?

We want to. There is excellent specialist support for veterans already, and we want to connect it with the next opportunities people need. For someone who has already been helped by a specialist organisation, we hope Steady Ground can become a place to keep progressing. We’d welcome conversations with organisations working with veterans and families.

Is Steady Ground a housing or mental health charity?

No. Housing would be one part of the Swansea flagship, but Steady Ground is being built as a community around belonging, development, opportunity and contribution. It isn’t a clinical or mental health service. The flagship is being designed as a psychologically informed environment, and where someone needs specialist help, we’ll point them to the organisations that provide it.

Can I support the Swansea flagship?

Yes, and it’s one of the most exciting ways to help. The Swansea flagship would be the first physical home of a national idea, a purpose-built place for belonging, learning and contribution that shows how much veterans are worth. Whether you can help with land, design, construction, equipment or funding, the first step is a conversation, not an online donation.

Who is behind Steady Ground?

Steady Ground is being built in Wales by a small founding team with military experience and a shared belief in what it could become. We’re still close to the work, so if you get in touch, you’ll hear directly from the people building it.

We’re also always looking to strengthen the team with people who bring useful experience, skills, ideas and a genuine interest in helping Steady Ground grow well.

In development · The Steady Ground app

Find something that moves your life forward.

An app being designed to connect veterans, service leavers and their families with employers, charities, training providers, universities, councils and community projects across the UK.

See what’s on, who it’s for, where it is and how to take the next step. The first job is simple. Help someone find an opportunity and think, that could work for me, I’d like to try it. Organisations will be able to bring us a requirement, and we’ll share the right opportunities with the community.

Help shape the app Bring us a requirement

Six ways forward

Meet the
Steady Ground Six.

Six roles carry one idea, that people hold more value than you first see. Each stands for a strength, and each has something to learn.

Meet The Six

The collection

Wear what you’re helping build.

Field goods shaped by British field clothing, workwear and outdoor kit, from waxed jackets and wool coats to leather boots and enamel mugs. Built to be used.

In development, not yet available to buy

Explore the field goods Keep me informed
Concept artwork. At dusk, a group gathers round a fire pit under a lantern-lit shelter above the sea, sharing food, mugs and conversation.

A place worth coming back to

Help build Steady Ground.

  • A place to belong.
  • Skills worth learning.
  • Responsibility worth carrying.
  • And a route towards something larger than yourself.

Steady Ground is in its founding stage. Help shape it from the start.

Get involved Partner with Steady Ground