United Grand Lodge of England
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 United Grand Lodge of England 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 United Grand Lodge of England 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 Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- Armed Forces Charities
We also pledge the following:
Commitment to Armed Forces Charities: UGLE, the Masonic Charitable Foundation, our Lodges, and members support Armed Forces charities with fund raising and supporting staff who volunteer to assist. Freemasonry is one of the largest charitable givers in the country, contributing £51.lm to deserving causes in 2020 alone. Freemasons do not only donate money -more than 18.5 million hours of volunteer work are undertaken by Freemasons every year. To take some examples, The United Grand Lodge of England’s Grand Charity has supported a number of veterans charities in the last few years including, the Blind Veterans UK, British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association, Help for Heroes and Fishing for Heroes. Freemasons have always had a strong relationship with the armed services, and UGLE have worked with Remembrance Penny who have donated a bronze poppy, in a case, inscribed with the words “They shall not grow old. For those Freemasons who died for their country”. Funds raised from the sale of the pennies are going to support Combat Stress to help continue delivering life-changing specialist services to veterans across the UK. The poppy is permanently on display at UGLE as a symbol of reflection and contemplation for those servicemen and women who have served their country.
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.