Salford Armed Forces Community Covenant

In October 2013, Salford City Council with members of the armed forces, together with a number of partners signed the Armed Forces Community Covenant.

The covenant was signed by Salford's City Mayor Ian Stewart, Colonel Myszka Guzkowska (Armed Forces Community), Captain Jonathan Lasker (Royal Navy), Wing Commander Gavin Hellard (Royal Air Force) and Lieutenant Colonel Steve Wotherspoon (Support for Britain's Reservists and Employers Campaign Director).

Representatives from 15 organisations and Salford's three local MPs, Hazel Blears, Barbara Keeley and Graham Stringer respectively who added their support to the principles of the covenant:

• The Pennine Care Foundation Trust
• Greater Manchester West Mental Health Trust
• The Royal British Legion
• Greater Manchester Police
• Broughton House for Ex-Service Personnel
• University of Salford
• Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
• SSAFA
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Salford CVS
• The Booths Charities
• Salford Credit Union
• Emmaus Salford
• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Salford Clinical Commissioning Group

The Salford City Council Armed Forces Community Covenant is a voluntary statement of mutual support between a civilian community and its local armed forces community.

The purpose of the community covenant is to encourage support for the armed forces and their families working and residing in Salford and to recognise the sacrifices made by all members of the armed forces community.

Councillors Morris and Warner have been appointed as the council's Veterans Champions, both former members of the armed forces who are working to ensure that the voices of veterans and their families are heard.

The covenant aims:

• To raise public awareness of the work of the armed forces and the issues affecting service personnel, veterans and their families
• To encourage local communities to support the local armed forces community
• To highlight and encourage opportunities for serving personnel and veterans to contribute to civilian society.
• To raise awareness within Salford City Council of the needs of serving personnel, veterans and their families and ensure that the needs of this group is considered in policy development and service delivery where appropriate
• To raise awareness within Salford City Council and the armed forces of the support services currently provided for serving personnel, veterans and their families by the council and voluntary and community sector organisations, and ensure robust signposting is in place
• To develop an informal 'network of communication', comprising key representatives from the council, partner organisations and the armed forces, to oversee the implementation and ongoing development of the covenant