The Soldiers' Arts Academy C.I.C
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 The Soldiers’ Arts Academy C.I.C 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 The Soldiers’ Arts Academy C.I.C 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
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Armed Forces Charities
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:
-Armed forces friendly: through our website soldiersartsacademy.com, our press office and our productions -Training, mentoring and providing work for veterans and serving personnel and their families in our productions -Working with the Globe, RSC, RADA and publishers, Candoco dance company and Kings College to provide performance opportunities Cadets: where possible, by encouraging them to connect with our productions through workshops -Striving to introduce as many serving and veteran personnel and their families to the arts as possible, by running national and international tours of our productions -Running our London arts hub with free weekly masterclasses including acting, signing, dance, poetry, creative writing, music, art -Endeavouring to raise funds to open other hubs all around the country with a lasting legacy for veterans to engage with the arts at a rate of 1 per year, subject to successful fundraising -Launching professional productions around the uk annually, involving serving and injured personnel and their families, to provide opportunities for recovery, retraining and employment -Endeavouring to provide a wellbeing officer to support the company members and collaborating with other mental health services if necessary through this officer -Proactively seeking out and passing on work opportunities in our weekly newsletter -Developing a specific veterans gateway on ‘spotlight’, a casting website, and our own website to increase the opportunity for work for our company members in film and tv -Setting up education workshops in schools, colleges and universities to provide members with paid work and valuable work experience and making them available to all children including the children of military families -Supporting veterans in launching their careers in the arts by developing a media profile through press opportunities, cv-writing and help with invoicing etc -Linking members with mentors in the industry who can help them grow and develop -Continuously seeking to encourage new members from the armed forces community
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.