On 14th November 2023 Care First 24 Ltd signed “The Armed Forces Covenant” which is a promise from the Nation that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families are treated fairly.
“We commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value of Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our County.”
This obligation involves the whole of society: It includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.
Principles of the Armed Forces Covenant:
We, Care First 24, will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- No member of the Armed Forces Community should face a disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen
- In some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate, especially for the injured or bereaved.
Demonstrating our Commitment:
We recognise the value that serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business and to our country. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by:
- Promoting the Armed Forces: promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation, to our staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public.
- Veterans: supporting the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process
- Service Spouses & Partners: supporting the employment of Service spouses and partners; partnering with the Forces Families Jobs Forum (https://www.forcesfamiliesjobs.co.uk/); and providing flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment.
- Reserves: supporting our employees who are members of the Reserve Forces; granting additional paid/unpaid leave for annual Reserve Forces training; supporting any mobilisations and deployment; actively encouraging members of staff to become Reservists;
- Cadet Organisations: supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations, granting additional leave to attend annual training camps and courses; actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations; supporting local military cadet units; recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce.
- National Events: supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities;
- Armed Forces Charities: supporting Armed Forces charities with fundraising and supporting staff who volunteer to assist;
- Commercial Support: offering a discount to members of the Armed Forces community;
We will publicise these commitments through our literature, on staff notices, and on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community, our staff and our customers on how we are doing.
We are very proud of our commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant and have partnered up with UK Homes 4 Heroes – Pride and Passion to do all we can to meet our commitment by working with them to assist our veterans. This year we are supporting meals for 21 days during the festive season, with one of our MD’s putting in a couple of shifts to help!