Welcoming the Official Signing of the Armed Forces Community Covenant in Mid and East Antrim

Earlier this year I proposed a motion at Mid and East Antrim Council that would see the Council adopt the Armed Forces Community Covenant.  The motion read:

We the undersigned do hereby propose that

"Mid and East Antrim Borough Council adopt a community covenant.

A Community Covenant complements, at a local level, the Armed Forces covenant and its aim is to encourage local communities to support the armed forces community within their area and promote understanding and awareness amongst the public of issues affecting the armed forces community. Signatories to a Community Covenant have access to a grant scheme of £10 million per year as part of the Community Covenant Grant Scheme.

The Community Covenant is about building understanding of the Armed Forces in our community and is a positive declaration of intent to ensure those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces and their families are not disadvantaged by that service"

After work with the Armed Services and the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association, today marked the official signing of the Covenant and the beginning of work to honour the commitments set out within the motion.  

with Colonel Johnny Rollins & Lt Colonel Steve Thomas
at the signing of the Community Covenant

Proposing and now signing the Community Covenant is an important first step and and shows that with inclusion and respect, issues which have the potential to be contentious can be dealt with in a rational, inclusive manner.

 With the help of the local community, we must now press on to the next stage to give this motion meaning, delivering from the bottom up and helping those most in need. Some of our veterans are the most vulnerable in society, men and women who served their country and now look to their country for help.

That means continuing to build relationships and increasing understanding about the Armed Forces and most importantly veterans and their families. No one should be disadvantaged because of their military service. Unfortunately that hasn't been the case and I, with the help of community groups throughout the Borough, intend to change that.