Sign the Armed Forces Covenant to pledge your mutual support for those who serve

This is to pledge their mutual support for the armed forces community.

Councillor Steve Bearshaw, who has 29 years of service in the RAF and is also the borough's Armed Forces Member Champion, is encouraging more organisations to find out more about the scheme and see how they could play their part.

His appeal for more local organisations to sign up comes ahead of Armed Forces Week, which will be marked in West Norfolk on Monday 22 June, with the raising of the Armed Forces Flag in Tower Gardens, Kings Lynn, at 10.30am.

The Armed Forces Covenant, a national scheme, is a pledge to acknowledge and understand that those who serve or have served in the armed forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the community, economy and society.

West Norfolk is a long-standing signatory, providing support and guidance in a number of areas, and several council employees are members of the armed forces community, including active reservists.

The council has also achieved Siver Status under the Employer Recognition Scheme, recognising the dedicated employment-related support it gives to colleagues who are reservists and people leaving the forces who need help securing job roles or training.

Businesses, parish or town councils, and other organisations seeking to demonstrate their support for the armed forces community are invited to make a voluntary pledge under the Covenant, which can be adapted to suit the specific organisation. This could include commitments like:

• Promoting the business as an armed forces-friendly organisation
• Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day
• Supporting the employment of veterans young and old
• Supporting employees who choose to be members of the reserve forces
• Employing service spouses and partners and endeavouring to offer flexibility in granting leave related to a partner's deployment
• Offering support to local cadet units
• Offering discounts to members of the armed forces community.

Interested organisations can discover more and find pledge templates on the council website. Visit www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk for more about the Armed Forces Covenant. If you require further guidance about signing the Covenant, your pledge or the process, please email [email protected]

Councillor Bearshaw said: "With West Norfolk being home to RAF Marham and Norfolk having a number of other active military sites, our borough has a large forces population, who contribute so much and are a valued part of our wider communities.

"Signing the Armed Forces Covenant is a great way for businesses, community groups, public bodies and other organisations to show their mutual support for our serving armed forces personnel, reservists, veterans, cadets and their families.

"The Covenant is a badge of support for our armed forces community. Something as simple as guaranteeing reservists paid leave for military training can make a big difference.

"As someone with a long RAF service, this is something I am proud to advocate, to ensure we're working together and doing what we can as a place to be mutually supportive of our armed forces community.

"I encourage companies to attend our flag-raising ceremony and I look forward to speaking to them and providing any further information should they wish."

The raising of the Armed Forces Flag in King's Lynn will be attended by representatives from local military units, cadets and children from Greyfriars. The Rev Mark Dimond will lead the service, which is open to all the attend. After the event, refreshments will be available at the Bridge for Heroes, one on the Mayor's charities.