Celebrating Our Armed Forces Community

Armed Forces Week provides a great opportunity to not only recognise the extraordinary work and sacrifice of our Armed Forces, but also those who are part of the Armed Forces Community. As a former RAF Squadron Leader and an Army spouse, I know that being a veteran, you never truly leave the Armed Forces! The immense sense of pride, being part of a team and the skills that you learn stay with you always.

We are proud to have over 1000 colleagues in our business with connections to the Armed Forces, whether they be veterans, Reservists, spouses, or cadet instructors. We are delighted to be a Gold Employer Recognition Scheme signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant and following updating our original pledges we re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant, in March this year, at an event attended by First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key KCB CBE, Royal Navy.

The re-signing event provided a great opportunity to reflect on how we have continued to build on the work that we have done to support and grow our Armed Forces community here at Compass.

The launch of our Spouse’s policy last year has enabled spouses in our business to look at redeployment opportunities when their partners are relocated. In addition, being provided with a day’s leave to support with partners leaving or when they return on long deployments, has been a welcome support at a time which is often full of heightened emotions.

I was also delighted to host our first Military Dependent’s Day in January, at Chelsea Football Club. It was such a joy to give military families in our business a real treat – and the behind the scenes tour and wonderful VIP treatment by the Chelsea and Levy teams really made the day extra special. I am really looking forward to our future events.

It was great to see these new initiatives being recognised at the recent Celebrating Forces Families Awards, where we shortlisted as Exemplar Employer of the Year. While we didn’t win, it was such an honour to be in the room and amongst so many fabulous organisations and individuals who do so much to support Armed Forces families. We are also looking forward to the upcoming Ex-Forces in Business Awards at the end of June.

For those not in the military, the Armed Forces can seem a very different world. So my ask of all our Compass colleagues this Armed Forces Week, is to find some time to talk to colleagues who are part of this important Armed Forces community – it’s your opportunity to ask questions and find out more about their life either when they served, life as a spouse, or what the role of a Reservist or a Cadet Instructor entails. You may be surprised by some of the wonderful stories that are out there.

If you are part of our Armed Forces community and want to find out more how we support you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, I would love to hear from you – afc@compass-group.co.uk

Happy Armed Forces Week!

Camilla Howard

Chair, Compass Armed Forces Network