Newark and Sherwood District Council hosts inaugural Armed Forces Covenant engagement event

The event is the initiative of Newark and Sherwood District Council. The engagement event brought together representatives of the main charities and organisations that can help veterans and the Armed Forces community.

“Newark and Sherwood District has a proud tradition of military service and has one of the nation’s highest concentrations of military veterans. When the call has come to defend and protect, the people from this area have always been there for us. They have given their best years, and often paid with their lives, to keep us safe. We remember that sacrifice and commitment through the Armed Forces Covenant. We have a moral duty to show care and due regard for our veterans, and through the Covenant, we also have a legal duty,” explains Suzanne Shead, Director of Housing Health and Wellbeing.

“The first aim of our new event is to bring together the organisations who are here to help our Armed Forces communities, and to say thank you to all the people who work so hard in this area. We also want to use the event to share our experiences, our achievements, and challenges. We want to work together to provide the best environment possible for all these groups to support our veterans, their families and the Armed Forces community. By bringing together the different charities and organisations who offer help and support to veterans in the district, we hope to be able to increase the knowledge of exactly what is available and help these different organisations to work together to achieve their goals.

“We cannot solve every problem or answer every question at this event, but we will make sure we listen, learn and act to ensure we are fulfilling our duty to the people who made it their duty to defend us.”

Newark and Sherwood District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council are proud to uphold our responsibilities under the armed forces covenant, but it is not done in isolation. There are many organisations locally that support the Armed Forces community. These range from Defence Medical Welfare Society, which maintains staff in our NHS hospitals to help when a veteran arrives for care, the Benevolent Funds which provide money to install home modifications for disabled veterans, through to the many voluntary groups and breakfast clubs that provide social support connection for ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen.

This engagement event brought together Newark and Sherwood District Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and some of the many organisations in our area which support our Armed Forces community:

• Nottinghamshire County Council
• Civil Military Partnership Board
• The Royal British Legion
• Army Benevolent Fund
• Royal Naval Association
• SSAFA (Soldiers’ Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association)
• Care After Combat
• Newark Patriotic Fund
• Royal Air Force Association, Balderton
• Newark Services Club
• Fighting with Pride
• Defence Medical Welfare Society (DMWS)
• The Royal British Legion Newark, Ollerton, Rainworth, Blidworth
• Forest Forces (Nottingham Forest Community Trust)

The theme of this event was ‘Working Together’. This is an aim that is important to Newark and Sherwood District Council, as Suzanne Shead concludes, “We cannot solve every problem or answer every question at this event, but we will make sure we listen, learn and act to ensure we are fulfilling our duty to the people who made it their duty to defend us.”