Parkguard Ltd
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 Parkguard Ltd 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 Parkguard Ltd 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
We also pledge the following:
promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation; Since the start of FY 2020 and at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, Parkguard have been actively employing ex service personnel, in fact nearly 50% of all new recruits have been service leavers. This is a commitment that we are actively perusing and promoting within our organisation. seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old and working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), in order to establish a tailored employment pathway for Service Leavers; Parkguard have organised with CTP to prioritise service leavers in terms ofinterviews for new positions and we have taken part in the CTP virtual employment event which is held monthly at the moment. At these events we are able to discuss individual needs/requirements for the roles that we have available. striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners; Each application is prioritised. Shift work and the Armed Forces lifestyle corresponds with our existing roles and the services that we provide on behalf of Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords. The work environment, ex service personnel colleagues and goals are all synonymous with our company ethos. endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment,· Parkguard has a vety flexible approach to annual leave ifrequired before, during or after a partner’s deployment This has been a longstanding way of working. seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible; Parkguard currently employ reservists and they are supported in their training and deployments where possible. offering support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools, where possible; this is something that we can build on in the future. We currently sponsor e-learning for 18,500 Police Cadets across 43 Police Forces in the UK that are focused on transferable qualifications for employment. With this existing infrastructure and formal partnership, this could potentially be extended to the Armed Forces cadets. aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day; All Parkguard employees are actively encouraged to attend community-based events every year that celebrate the day during work time. providing a private employee assistance program aimed at individual mental health and wet/being as well as support in relation to transitioning; Parkguard have commissioned a confidential employee referral scheme which provides face to face counselling, online or telephone counselling sessions for employees and direct family (partners and children). The aim is to support our employees, partners and children with all personal and professional needs pertaining to mental health and well being as well as legal, financial and medical advice.
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.