Royal British Legion expands its Home Improvement Service

The Royal British Legion is expanding its Home Improvement Service for the beneficiaries it supports across the UK and is seeking suitable partners to provide cover in all areas in the UK.

In Scotland the service will be provided by Poppyscotland. The secure, high-quality Home Improvement Service, which also comprises a Handy Van Service, helps beneficiaries who may be vulnerable and disabled, to live independently in their own homes. The service is available to any one who has served in the UK Armed Forces or who is their close spouse, dependant or carer.

In some cases the service is free and in others will be charged at cost. The Legion is the only Armed Forces charity to offer such a service. This service does much more than tackle small jobs around the house – all staff are case worker trained and will assess a beneficiary’s overall needs for free to ensure they get the help and support they need.

Last year nearly 5,000 handy van trips were made to carry out low-level repairs – from fixing dripping taps to mending broken furniture. The Legion is seeking to appoint supply partners to help deliver this service to beneficiaries in the most cost effective way while ensuring that the quality of service continues to be delivered at a high standard.

Supply partners must be able to demonstrate managerial and operational capacity and capabilities, and a motivated team. Suppliers can tender for the Handy Van, which will cover carpentry works, plumbing and electrical works as well as general maintenance or Home Improvement service which covers building works, disability adaptions and gas and electric works.

Further information can be found in the Pre-Qualifying Questionnaire which is available by contacting Brian Chester, BChester@britishlegion.org.uk. The deadline for submitting responses to the questionnaire is 20 April. Respondents selected to proceed to the next stage will be issued with an Invitation to Tender (ITT) pack while those not selected to proceed will be informed in writing.