BPM Contracting Services Ltd’s Director Chris Kille has today signed the Armed Forces Covenant which is a pledge of our commitment to support the Armed Forces Community and the Covenant’s principles.
We recognise the contribution that Service personnel, reservists, veterans, the cadet movement and military families make to our organisation, our community and to the country. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant by:
- Employment support to members of the Armed Forces Community:
- Support Reservists by offering them additional days of annual leave (paid/unpaid) in order to carry out their duties.
- Offer work placements, insight days, mentoring schemes and/or guaranteed interview schemes to Veterans seeking employment.
- Support the employment of Service spouses, partners and dependants, for example by: signing up to Forces Families Jobs; offering short-notice leave to those whose partners are sent on deployment; and working with the tri-Service Families Federations.
- Promote employment schemes aimed at the Armed Forces Community, such as ‘A Great Place to Work’ and ‘Step Into Health’.
- Offer additional (paid/unpaid) annual leave to Cadet Force Adult Volunteers to help them carry out their training requirement.
- Offer insight days to older Cadets looking for apprenticeships and further education opportunities.
- Engage with the Career Transition Partnership.
- Work with relevant charities and the Career Transition Partnership to offer work opportunities to the Wounded, Injured and Sick.
- Consider ways in which remote-working solutions might benefit the mobile Armed Forces Community, especially partners and spouses.
- Communications, engagement and outreach:
- Provide and/or promote training, such as e-learning, for our staff on the Armed Forces Community.
- Promote the Armed Forces Covenant, the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and our
support for the Armed Forces Community to our staff, customers/service users, supply chains
and the wider public. - Support or promote Armed Forces events, such as Armed Forces Day/Week, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal and Remembrance activities.
- Use the Covenant and Employer Recognition Scheme logos in our communications and marketing.
- Create a dedicated Armed Forces page on our website.
- Establish an internal Armed Forces Network within our organisation, to enable staff members with an Armed Forces connection to meet and support one another and provide feedback to us as an organisation.
- Appoint an Armed Forces Champion within our organisation to act as a focal point for organising and promoting support for the Armed Forces Community.
- Engage with and support local Armed Forces charities, for example by supporting their fundraising activities.
- Signpost members of the Armed Forces Community to available support, for example from Cobseo, the Veterans’ Gateway or statutory services in our area.
- Run, facilitate or promote support networks (such as coffee mornings, breakfast clubs) for veterans and other members of the Armed Forces Community.
- Engage with any local Armed Forces presence – for example, local Army units, reservist units, RAF stations and/or naval bases.
- Develop relationships and work collaboratively with other organisations supporting the Covenant and the Armed Forces Community in our locality/region.
- Commercial:
- Offer and/or promote commercial discounts for members of the Armed Forces Community via the Defence Discount Service.
- Ensure the Armed Forces Community has fair access to our services and is not put at a disadvantage by their service, for example as a result of their high mobility.
- Health
- Take part in and/or promote awareness-raising schemes, such as veteran-friendly accreditation for GP practices and the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance.
- Ensure available dedicated healthcare services for members of the Armed Forces Community, such as Op COURAGE in England, are signposted and promoted.
- Housing:
- Promote awareness of housing and homelessness services among the Armed Forces Community.
- Education:
- Promote and/or use resources such as the Service Children Progression Alliance’s Thriving Lives Toolkit.
- Support and promote the wellbeing of Service children, recognising the particular experiences and challenges they may face.
- Promote training and further/higher education opportunities for Service leavers, ex-Service personnel and their families.
- Civic responsibilities:
- Organise, facilitate, promote and/or take part in remembrance and other ceremonial activities.
We will publicise our progress & achievement of these commitments through our literature and this website and invite feedback from the Armed Forces Community and our customers on how we are doing.
