Making a Commitment to Our Armed Forces Community
Armed Forces Day took place at the weekend, and it was marked in usual fitting style here in Bedford with a parade through town on Sunday, and then on Monday morning at Borough Hall with a Flag Raising ceremony. The Standard Bearers did a fine job as always, and it was once again an honour for me to 'inspect the standards,' which you can see pictured here. Following the flag raising, a ceremony was held for the signing of the Bedford Borough Armed Forces Community Covenant.
The Armed Forces Community Covenant is a voluntary statement of mutual support between the civilian community and its local Armed Forces Community. We have introduced it here to encourage support for the Service community and to promote understanding of the issues affecting the Armed Forces Community. The Armed Forces Community comprises serving armed forces personnel, Reservists and Veterans and their families and the bereaved, who have lost family members who served in the forces.
The covenant is very much a joint commitment made between the civilian community and the Armed Forces Community, with the Armed Forces pledged to do as much as it can to support the community and promote activity which integrates the Community into civilian life.
The core principles of the covenant are to:
a) Ensure that members of the Armed Forces community do not suffer any disadvantages as a result of their service.
b) Recognise and remember the sacrifices made by members of the Bedford Borough Armed Forces community, particularly those who have given the most. This includes in-Service and ex-Service personnel, Reservists, their families and widow(er)s.
As part of the covenant, I have been named as Armed Forces Community Covenant Champion, and as I told those assembled for the ceremony I will do my utmost to pursue and promoting the principles of the covenant and ensure they are upheld. Indeed, I believe that is the least any of us can do.
After I spoke during the short ceremony, Lt Col Andy Brown, Royal artillery, Commanding Officer, 100 (Yeomanry) Regiment spoke movingly of the armed forces' role and the crucial importance of the relationship between the Armed Forces community and the local community. Each of the forces were extremely well represented on the day, and there was a fine exhibition of stalls with the forces, charities, the NHS and others promoting their work.
I am pleased that this public recognition of the unique role of the armed forces and the sacrifices made on behalf of us all has taken place, and it now falls on us all to uphold the principles of the covenant. I hope that the Covenant really will encourage further support for the armed forces community and help make it easier for service people including veterans to access all the help and support that is available here in Bedford Borough.