Newcastle City Council Signs up to Armed Forces Community Covenant
Newcastle City Council will formalise its support to our armed forces when it signs up to the Armed Forces Community Covenant next week.
The Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Cllr Geoff O'Brien, will sign on behalf of the City Council on Wednesday, 1 February at 6pm.
He will be joined by all three branches of the armed forces, representatives of the community and voluntary sector and the armed forces charities, as well as representatives from the city's business community, the NHS and Your Homes Newcastle who will also be supporting the pledge.
They will all work together to improve the help provided to those who are currently serving in the armed forces and also the city's veterans.
Servicemen and women leaving the armed forces often need advice on issues including health, education, housing, training and jobs.
The aim of Newcastle's Armed Forces Community Covenant will be to develop closer working relationships between the Armed Forces, the Council, the NHS and other partners to ensure that information and advice is readily available.
As well as giving help to those who has been involved in the armed forces, the covenant will also ensure the families and loved ones of all ex-service men and women are supported too.
The Armed Forces Community Covenant is a voluntary statement of support between the civilian community and the local Armed Forces Community and is intended to complement the Armed Forces Covenant, which outlines the moral obligation between the country, the Government and the Armed Forces, at the local level.
Over the last two years the city council has been working on a number of initiatives to identify armed forces issues and to develop stronger partnerships, and this Community Covenant builds on a Notice of Motion passed by the Council last January to establish a Newcastle Veterans Charter.
During 2010 and 2011, Newcastle led a major scrutiny project involving the twelve councils in the North East and external partners to review the health inequalities suffered by the ex-service community and their families.
The resulting report identified the need for improvements across 47 areas of work covering physical health, mental health, housing, employment, education and skills with the recommendations directed at councils, the NHS, the armed forces and some regional and national organisations.
Following the signing of the Newcastle Covenant the Newcastle Veterans Steering Group established in 2010 will make way for a wider Armed Forces Forum which will meet twice a year. The Council has already nominated a councillor as Armed Forces Champion to help take forward actions agreed under the Community Covenant. He will be supported by the Executive Director of Adult and Culture Services who has the role of Officer Champion.
Other measures outlined in the covenant will see the council continue to support Armed Forces Day celebrations in the city with Old Eldon Square being made available when needed.
Before City Council the Lord Mayor will host a reception for those organisations invited to sign the Covenant. They include Lt Col Mark Mackenzie-Crooks who is Commanding Officer 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers), Andrew Drake MBE representing the Royal British Legion and Bill McGawley who is Tyne and Wear Chair of the North East Chamber of Commerce.
Cllr O'Brien said: "Newcastle is proud of its connections with our armed forces. On behalf of the city council I am delighted to be signing this covenant which will help to provide much needed support to our servicemen and women, their families and veterans.
"This covenant will ensure that we and our partners work more closely to meet their needs and give support which will make a real difference to their lives."
For more information about organisations in the city who support the armed forces community go to Providing Support and Help for Veterans at http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/people-and-communities/support-groups/support-and-help-veterans-newcastle?opendocument.
Newcastle will join a growing group of councils including Gateshead and South Tyneside locally and Doncaster, Hampshire, North Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, and Portsmouth who have also introduced Community Covenants.
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