Community Foundation for Staffordshire & Shropshire
We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.
The Armed Forces Covenant
An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families
The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.
Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.
Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant
1.1 We Community Foundation for Staffordshire & Shropshire will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 Community Foundation for Staffordshire & Shropshire recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- Armed Forces Charities
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:
Promoting and overseeing the Armed Forces Covenant As part of the commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant, the Community Foundation will appoint a trustee champion. Trustees are also directors of the Community Foundation and will ensure that the needs of employees who may have served, or are actively serving as Reserves or Cadets, are considered at the highest available level within the Community Foundation. In addition, the Community Foundation will: Use appropriate logos and branding on our community partners website pages and digital newsletters to highlight our commitment to, and to promote, the Armed Forces Covenant to our staff, customers suppliers, contractors and the wider public Use our social media channels to promote Armed Forces Day and the Reserves, including links to relevant websites and promotion of relevant events, such as Armed Forces Week, Reserves Day and Remembrance Take part in the production of promotional recruitment films to highlight the opportunities offered by the Community Foundation and to highlight the benefits of the scheme by providing case studies To attend employer engagement events which may be held by or on behalf of the Armed Forces Supporting Veterans & Service Leavers The Community Foundation has introduced a new section on Veterans and Service Leavers into the HR Manual to ensure that the offer to Veterans is taken account of at all stages of the employment process. This will include allowances that may be made over and above our usual commitment to employees. These extra allowances include: Offer observation days where veterans and service leavers may observe the work of the Community Foundation to better understand the services provided, and allow veterans the opportunity to ask questions about the work Offer the opportunity for veterans and service leaders to observe the work of the Community Foundation and provide work placements if a veteran would like to try a role before undertaking employment Support the employment of veterans and service leavers, included the wounded, injured and sick, by working with the Career Transition Partnership to ensure that employment opportunities are promoted to and seen by veterans and service leavers. Treat experience, qualifications and knowledge gained in the service of the Armed Forces on a parallel with experience, qualifications and knowledge gained in traditional employment Offer a guaranteed interview to veterans and service leavers where they can demonstrate that they can meet the required qualification criteria Offer a mentoring scheme to veteran service leavers Use veterans and service leavers who take up employment with the Community Foundation to support other veterans and service leavers, both in their work, and by encouraging them to do so in non-work time Continue to support veterans and service leavers by working with the Armed Forces Network, to help veterans settle into employment Supporting Reserves We have introduced a new section on Reserves into our HR Manual to ensure that the offer to Reservists is taken account of at all stages in the employment process. This includes the allowances which we will offer Reserves over and above our usual commitment to employees. These allowances include: Support the employment of reserves through targeted recruitment where appropriate Paid leave, not taken from the usual leave allowance, to complete any necessary training, up to a total of 10 days per annum A further 10 days of non-paid leave for all training requirements beyond the initial 10 days Keeping employment positions open if there is a need for a Reservist to be deployed, or offering an alternative, but equitable role, upon the end of deployment Allow time off, and encourage, the Reservist to take part in promotion of the Reservists schemes, including allowing time off for participation in Reserves Day To notify existing and new employees of the ability to join the Reserves To support Employer Notification by remind Reservists who are employed by the Community Foundation to ensure that the Reserves HR database is kept up to date Supporting Cadets & Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers The Community Foundation has introduced a new section on Cadets into the HR Manual to ensure that the offer to Cadets is taken account of at all stages of the employment process. This will include allowances that may be made over and above our usual commitment to employees. These extra allowances include: Support the employment of cadets through targeted recruitment where appropriate by working with Cadet Instructors Provide insight days for older cadets Paid leave, not taken from the usual leave allowance, to complete any necessary training, up to a total of 10 days per annum for Cadets Paid leave, not taken from the usual leave allowance, to complete any necessary training, up to a total of 10 days per annum for Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers A further 10 days of non-paid leave for all training requirements beyond the initial 10 days for Cadet Forces Adult Volunteers Allow time off, and encourage, the Cadet to take part in promotion of the Cadet scheme To notify existing and new employees of the ability to become cadet helpers or instructors To support Employer Notification by remind Reservists who are employed by the Community Foundation to ensure that the Reserves HR database is kept up to date Beyond the employment allowances the Community Foundation will: Support local cadet units by offering in-kind support wherever possible Showcase opportunities to join the cadet force to existing employees and trustees Offer the opportunity to apply for relevant grant funding, where the overall criteria can be met by cadet units Support for Spouses, Partners & Families of Armed Service Personnel As a result of the proximity of the offices of the Community Foundation to local barracks and living accommodation for the armed forces and their families, several employees have been drawn from families of armed forces personnel. As a result of this the Community Foundation has a greater than average understanding of the needs of families of the Armed Forces, and the flexibility that needs to be offered. Some benefits which we can offer to families of the Armed Forces include: Working with Families Federations to promote and raise awareness of the Community Foundation as being Forces Family Friendly Targeted advertising of employment opportunities to families of the Armed Forces, including through local Armed Forces Neighbourhood groups on social media and working with the Forces Families Jobs Forum Offer a guaranteed interview to family members where they can demonstrate that they can meet the required qualification criteria Offer pastoral support to any family member of a serving member of the Armed Forces where there is a need for them to be deployed Meet the emergency leave request needs of an Armed Forces members family should it arise Give priority for leave to families of Armed Forces members where the service person has leave to spend at home with their family, in line with the priority given to parents during school holidays Bereavement leave, in line with current bereavement leave entitlements, which exceed the statutory minimum and are focused on ensuring the bereaved have the time and support they need Offer referrals in to other local community foundations if an employee needs to move due to a transfer of their serving family member Offer the opportunity to work remotely for a period of 6 weeks, where possible, to a family member of a serving Armed Forces member, when they have had to move to a different area, to ensure that they have continued employment whilst they search for a new job
2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.