Information and support for the armed forces community
Southampton's Armed Forces Covenant
Southampton City Council recognises the contribution and sacrifice made by members of the Armed Forces community, as well as the individual skills and benefits they offer a workplace. That’s why we are proud to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant. To learn more about the Covenant visit the Armed Forces Covenant support and advice page.
In 2017, Southampton, Portsmouth, Gosport and Isle of Wight councils came together to form a partnership that can deliver the Covenant across the entire Solent region. Together, we aim to:
- Raise awareness among serving personnel, reservists and veterans of the support they can access from local authorities
- Provide a wider understanding of the needs of the local veteran population and serving personnel during their transition to civilian life
- Evaluate the impact of these initiatives
The Solent Armed Forces Covenant Partnership Board representing Southampton, Portsmouth and Gosport, alongside the Isle of Wight Civil Military Partnership Boards, provide strategic governance for local delivery of the above aims.
Help and support
The Covenant focuses on assisting members of the armed forces community to gain access to the same government and commercial services and products as any other citizen. This covers numerous areas, such as:
- Having a home
- Launching a career
- Access to healthcare
- Education and family wellbeing
The Veterans Gateway
The Veterans Gateway launched in 2017 to put veterans and their families in touch with organisations ideally placed to help with any advice, information and support they need. This includes healthcare, housing, employability, finances, and much more.
Commercial support
Over 2000 businesses around the country have pledged their support of the Armed Forces Covenant. This allows Southampton City Council to specify how we expect our providers to demonstrate consideration of the Armed Forces community in the services these businesses and organisations deliver.
If you’re a business or organisation, find out more and sign up to the Covenant.
Covenant funding
The Covenant fund offers grants to community projects that are beneficial to both the Armed Forces community and the civilian community, for example building new nurseries in civilian areas where there is also a population of Armed Forces families, or funding military-themed community activities that help civilians to better understand the Armed Forces community.
Armed Forces Covenant needs assessment
It is estimated that over 75,000 adults and children make up the Solent Armed Forces community. The Solent Armed Forces Covenant Partnership has worked hard to understand the needs of this community. You can read the full assessment or view an infographic of its headline information.
Case studies
To find out more about how the Covenant supports members of the Armed Forces community, you can read case studies about those in the Southampton area who have been helped by the services.
| Document | Type | Size |
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| HIS-update-for-the-Armed-forces | 802.2 KB |
