We’re proud to launch The True Grit Project a powerful new 12-week health and wellbeing programme created to support LGBT+ veterans across the North East.
Funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust through its Hidden Voices initiative, True Grit aims to amplify and empower a community that has too often gone unheard.
LGBT+ veterans experience disproportionately higher rates of mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, and trauma often rooted in historic discrimination and compounded by social isolation. True Grit was developed to directly address these realities and create a space where participants can rebuild confidence, community, and purpose.
Based at Kingston Park Stadium, the home of Newcastle Falcons and Thunder, the project will support more than 120 people directly and indirectly — helping veterans, their families, and the broader community thrive together.
Running from January to June 2026, the initiative combines:
- Inclusive, rugby-inspired fitness sessions tailored to all abilities
- Coaching in emotional intelligence and resilience
- Healthy lifestyle workshops focusing on nutrition, rest, and stress management
- Regular wellbeing check-ins and one-to-one support
- A pathway into the Foundation’s CAST volunteering and mentoring programme
“True Grit is about belonging — about creating a space where LGBT+ veterans can rediscover their strength, identity, and connection through shared experience. Rugby has always been a team game built on respect and inclusion, and this project is our way of turning those values into action.” — Darren Greco, Development Manager, Newcastle Rugby Foundation
We welcomes veterans who wish to take part, as well as individuals and organisations who want to support or champion projects like True Grit.
For more details or to express interest, contact Darren Greco, Development Manager, at [email protected]
The programme has been co-designed with LGBT+ veterans and shaped through consultation with specialist organisations to ensure it directly addresses lived experience and removes barriers to accessing mainstream support.
The Foundation will collaborate with a network of veteran and LGBT+ organisations to support outreach, co-deliver elements of the programme and embed best practice across the region.
Partners include:
- Fighting With Pride
- Royal British Legion (LGBT+ network)
- Anxious Minds
- Veterans at Ease
Quarterly partnership forums will ensure shared learning and continued improvement, helping to raise awareness of the specific needs of LGBT+ veterans within the wider Armed Forces support sector.
Creating Lasting Impact
Beyond improving physical and mental wellbeing, True Grit is designed to create sustainable change. Participants will be supported into ongoing volunteering opportunities, strengthening long-term social connection and community belonging.
Robust evaluation, including wellbeing assessments and participant feedback, will measure impact and ensure the programme continues to evolve in response to need.
Charlie Roberts, Income Generation Manager at Newcastle Rugby Foundation, said:
“True Grit is about creating a safe, inclusive space where LGBT+ veterans feel seen, heard and valued. This funding enables us to combine the power of sport with tailored emotional wellbeing support, helping participants rebuild confidence, resilience and connection.”
Further details on how to get involved will be shared in the coming months.
For more information about the Foundation’s Armed Forces work, visit:
