Porthaven Care Homes Group
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 Porthaven Care Homes Group 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 Porthaven Care Homes Group 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
We also pledge the following:
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to appointing Armed Forces/Veterans Champion within every care home in the organisation as the staff members responsible for organising and promoting support for the Armed Forces Community.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to providing and promoting training such as e-learning and Champions training for staff on the Armed Forces Community.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to using the Covenant and Employer Recognition Scheme logos in our communications, marketing and website.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to promoting the Armed Forces Covenant and the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and support for the Armed Forces Community to our staff, service users and their families and the wider public.
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We pledge to provide tailored recruitment, offering flexible working arrangements and career development to assist transition in our organisation.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to establishing an internal Armed Forces Network within the organisation, to enable staff members with an Armed Forces connection to support one another and provide feedback to us as an organisation.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to fostering connections with our Armed Forces community to organise and promote support networks, forums and events, such as breakfast clubs and coffee mornings for veterans and other members of the Armed Forces Community, veterans event sponsorship and fundraising for military charities.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to developing relationships and working collaboratively with other organisations supporting the Covenant and the Armed Forces Community.
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VE Day commemorations, Poppy Appeal and other Remembrance activities.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to taking part in awareness-raising accreditation schemes, such as the Veteran-Friendly Framework and to work with veteran-friendly GP practices and health trusts.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to encouraging our staff to champion the understanding of and support for a resident’s military service and life experiences, ensuring we capture and document in the pre-admission assessment and care plan what matters most to them.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to understanding the experiences our Armed Forces veteran residents might have endured during their service and deliver their care in the most holistic person centred way possible.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to ensuring that all our staff understand that a person’s life experiences may affect their behaviours, and daily lives in different ways and will continue to commit to ensuring a supportive and understanding environment for residents and staff.
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Porthaven Care Homes commits to ensuring that dedicated specialist military/veteran health care pathways and services are signposted and supported for a resident, including Veterans’ Gateway, Veterans Community Network and the Veterans Directory.
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Civic responsibilities: Porthaven Care Homes commits to organising, promoting and taking part in remembrance and other ceremonial activities.
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.