Ministry Of Defence
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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 UKs highly-skilled veteran community.
Latest news
London Poppy Day raises over 1.2 million
Volunteers and members of the Armed Forces community came together at 70 different locations across the capital for Poppy Day. In a single day, they managed to raise 1,285,000, surpassing the 1 million target.
Royal British Legion beneficiary and veteran Laurence Moore said: Thank you for donating to the Poppy Appeal. You are helping the Royal British Legion provide vital support services to the Armed Forces community.
The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal has been running since 1921, with this year marking its 104th anniversary.
Tens of thousands of veterans and civilians came to pay their respects to the fallen at the annual National Service of Remembrance in London. Representatives of the Armed Forces, Fishing Fleets and Merchant Air and Navy were also present.
The march past featured veterans alongside charities and civilian organisations. Overall, 326 different groups marched in the procession.
Full list of marching organisations
Career Transition Partnership (CTP) Employment Fairs
CTP employment fairs are free to attend and feature hundreds of forces-friendly recruiting employers.
They support veterans by providing resources, networking opportunities and access to employers with experience of hiring veterans and service leavers.
This employment fairs are open to serving and ex-military personnel who have registered to attend through the Career Transition Partnership and not to the general public.
Register to attend a CTP Employment Fair
What is a veteran?
Veterans are defined as anyone who has served for at least one day in His Majestys 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? Use the hashtag #ProudToBeAVeteran on the platforms below:
Veterans employment
An employers guide to hiring veterans
An employers' guide to hiring veterans graphic (Office for Veterans' Affairs).
The employers guide to hiring veterans (published by the OVA) was launched by the Rt Hon Johnny Mercer, former Minister For Veteran Affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses HQ in London.
The guide provides support to organisations that seek guidance and best practices for the employment, retention, and career development of veterans. Case studies from existing organisations are included, providing tips and lived experiences.
Read the employers guide to hiring veterans.
The Reed Group
Reed logo.
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 Groups 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 members 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.
The Forces Employment Charity
Forces Employment Charity logo.
The Forces Employment Charity stands by ex-Forces personnel through a range of programmes and practical support. Supporting anyone who has served at least one day in His Majestys Regular Armed Forces, or Merchant Mariners who have seen duty on legally defined military operations. Support is delivered by experienced advisors, many of whom also served. The Forces Employment Charity advisors are committed to helping veterans succeed through their working lives.
The Forces Employment Charity programmes provide a range of practical tools and advice to help veterans use their military skills to stand out from the crowd.
The support provided includes:
- advice on career choices
- researching the job market
- job matching
- advice on training
- recommendations for courses and education
- support with writing a CV
- advice on interview techniques
- expert industry knowledge and updates
- events and employment fairs
For more information visit The Forces Employment Charity.
Forces-friendly employers
More than 12,000 organisations have committed to improving the lives of Service people and their families.
Since 2011, the Armed Forces Covenant has been a promise that, as a society, we will acknowledge that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces and their families should be treated with fairness and respect.
Read more about Forces-friendly employers
Hiring a veteran is good for business
New figures were released by the Forces Employment Charity on Armed Forces Day 2024, revealing that the number of employers actively looking to hire veterans has risen by over 20