Veterans News and Communications Hub

This collaborative project is delivered by Defence Relationship Management and Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities). The Hub enables forces-friendly organisations across all sectors to showcase the continued value of the UK’s highly skilled veteran community.

Latest news

Nuclear Test Medal design unveiled

• The commemorative Nuclear Test Medal design has been unveiled.
• The aim is for veterans to receive them before Remembrance Sunday.
• The medal recognises the significant contribution of those who participated in the UK’s nuclear testing programme.

The Prime Minister announced the medal in November on the 70th year anniversary of the first British nuclear weapon test. It recognises the Armed Forces community who participated in Britain’s nuclear testing programme in the 1950s and 1960s.

More information about the Nuclear Test Medal design

Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Clubs

The Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Clubs (AFVBC) is now the single largest veterans organisation in the UK, and membership growing weekly.

With over 400 clubs nationally and 15 overseas, the AFVBC seeks to end social isolation for veterans. The clubs bring people with a connection to the UK Armed Forces together and offers a chance to reminisce, share stories and interact with a community that is missed by most when leaving the Armed Forces.

The AFVBC is also conducting five pilot programmes in HM prisons across the UK, building a Armed Forces community within HM prisons. These pilot programmes help with social interaction, rehabilitation and a support structure for veterans who are currently within the criminal justice system.

Lindsay Beadnall from the AFVBC, said:

“The AFVBC acts as a beacon of hope and a landmark for those who are at HMP Stocken. It gives them a community, purpose, a chance to learn new skills. And somewhere to head to when they leave HMP Stocken. Our young veterans are gaining awards and are developing their skills for employment on their release. It gives most a second chance.”

Find your local AFVBC

What is a veteran?

Veterans are defined as anyone who has served for at least one day in His Majesty’s Armed Forces (Regular or Reserve) or Merchant Mariners who have seen duty on legally defined military operations. There are currently 2.4 million veterans in Great Britain.

There are 2.4 million veterans in Great Britain. 40% of veterans are 16-64 years old. The percentage of working age veterans is set to increase to 44% by 2028. 60% of veterans are over 65. 75% of veterans own their home or have a mortgage. It is estimated that 3% to 6% of those sleeping rough have served in the armed forces. 75% are healthy, 17% have fair health and 8% have bad health. Want to learn more? Tune in to our ‘being forces friendly’ podcast’.

Listen to our team of veterans talk about their experiences: transitioning from the UK Armed Forces and what the word ‘veteran’ means to them.

You can find and listen to all of our Being Forces Friendly podcast episodes on Anchor.

Share your story: what does the word “veteran” mean to you? Access the platforms below and use the hashtag #ProudToBeAVeteran:

Platform X (Previously Twitter)

LinkedIn

Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan

Top commitments in the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan include:

• employment and skills

• healthcare

• understanding the veteran community

View ‘Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan: 2022 to 2024’.

• Half a million pounds of research funding set to boost understanding of veteran needs

PartneringVeterans’ with defenceemployment

Career Transition Partnership

The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) is a partnering agreement between the Ministry of Defence and Right Management Ltd, who are global career development and outplacement specialists and part of the ManpowerGroup. CTP provides resettlement services for those leaving the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Marines. Regardless of time served, all members of the Armed Forces can benefit from CTP support when leaving Service. In addition, they operate as an intermediary service for employers wishing to hire Service leavers.

To date, they have assisted over 235,000 Service leavers with the transition to civilian life and supported thousands of organisations looking to employ ex-Service personnel.

Find out how CTP can help your organisation harness military talent

CTP employment fairs connect employers with skilled and experienced individuals who have un-paralleled transferable skills in planning, communication, teamwork and leadership, along with adaptability, drive and resilience.

Career Transition Partnership leaflet (PDF, 95.2 KB, 1 page)

Career Transition Partnership leaflet (PDF, 95.2 KB, 1 page)

The Reed Group

The Reed Group has recently been awarded the Gold Employer Recognition Scheme Award.

The Reed Group has created an internal Armed Forces Veterans and Reservists Group (AFVR), a Group-wide community for Armed Forces/ex-Armed Forces staff to connect.

The AFVR Group’s benefits include:

• offering employees a support group of people with similar experiences
• recreating a sense of camaraderie that they may be missing from their time in the forces
• offering an optional buddy system for mentoring new staff, especially when this is a member’s first civilian job
• sharing Armed Forces events, news and experiences

Joanna Chapman, Reed Group business development manager, has said:

This shows our commitment to supporting Armed Forces personnel and ensuring they are not disadvantaged by their Service. We work continuously to create new and improve existing policies and initiatives that support those who have served and those who continue to serve, including guidance documents for our recruiting staff and job application support for those applying to work for Reed.

Their working group will also hold group-wide talks to raise awareness for employing the Armed Forces Community, the benefits they bring to employers, and how they can be supported. Reed opens group talks to external stakeholders to host and bring their expertise, and they welcome anyone who would be interested in attending. If you would like to participate, email the Reed Armed Forces Community at ArmedForces.Community@reed.com.

Why hiring veterans is good for business

Employer Voices

Employer Voices - Jaguar Land Rover

Our Employer Voices Campaign is led by the voices of our forces-friendly employers from the MOD Employer Recognition Scheme.

In the first series, Jaguar Land Rover, HSBC, BNY Mellon and Thames Valley Police lent their voices to the campaign, providing authoritative business-led reasons why they hire veterans and why others should do the same.

The full series is accessible via the Defence Relationship Management YouTube channel.

Veterans and small business

Veterans: A Force for Business

X-Forces Enterprise (XFE) and the Federation of Small Business (FSB) have collaborated extensively over the last few years, beginning with an insightful report into the business landscape for service leavers: A Force For Business.

The report highlights the contribution of the UK’s veteran population to the small business sector, with 6% of small business owned by veterans in Great Britain. However the report shows that there is scope for this to be increased, greater numbers of veterans starting, growing or working in Great Britain’s millions of small businesses would see benefits for individuals, businesses and communities.

As proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant, and with XFE attaining the Gold Award MOD Employer Recognition Scheme Award in 2017, both organisations have made a commitment to recognising the value that service leavers, serving reservists, veterans and military families bring to the UK small business community; FSB members and XFE beneficiaries alike.

Ren Kapur MBE (Founder and CEO, X-Forces Enterprise) said:

Military service; the education, the knowledge and the experiences this provides individuals, is a wonderful foundation on which they can build their own career in self-employment or business ownership.

Download the report.

Veteran owned business success stories.

Service Charity Sector: Insight and Engagement

This film by Forces in Mind Trust provides an overview and analysis of the Armed Forces charities sector. The film is based on the findings of the Sector Insight: Armed Forces Charities report, from the Directory of Social Change (DSC) and is funded by Forces in Mind Trust. For further information, please read the full Armed Forces Charities report.

Video - Sector Insight: Armed Forces Charities

Read the full transcript: Forces in Mind Trust video transcript (ODT, 8.96 KB)

Cobseo (The Confederation of Service Charities), through its membership of service charities represents the whole serving and Veterans Community. Visit the Cobseo website where you will find the most up to date news, funding opportunities, help and transition guidance for Veterans and their families.

Related content

• New Employer Engagement Handbook
• Office for Veterans Affairs
• Defence Relationship Management
• Cobseo
• The Strategy for our Veterans
• Veterans Fact Sheet 2020
• A Force for Business: Service Leavers and Small Business
• Supporting veterans’ transition to civilian life through employment
• Armed Forces & Veterans Breakfast Club