The Armed Forces Community Covenant
The council supports military personnel and their families/dependants in the district, and veterans who have chosen to live here.
The council is a signatory to the North Yorkshire Armed Forces Community Covenant and strives to meet the responsibilities placed on it by the Armed Forces Covenant. View the latest Armed Forces Covenant Annual Report 2019.
How the council has been achieving this over recent years is detailed in its response to the covenant.
The North Yorkshire Armed Forces Covenant Local Authorities Working Group
Richmondshire District Council is working with a number of other local authorities in North Yorkshire to support the Armed Forces community. Details of what has been achieved so far can be viewed in the following annual reports:
- Supporting our Armed Forces and Armed Forces Community in North Yorkshire annual report 2018
- Supporting our Armed Forces and Armed Forces Community in North Yorkshire annual report 2019
Forces Connect app
The North Yorkshire Armed Forces Covenant Local Authorities Working Group have connected the North Yorkshire armed forces communities to the Forces Connect app, which is aimed at serving personnel, reservists, veterans, dependants (including spouses, partners, children and parents) and those that work with the armed forces community. Users are directed to a range of sources of support and advice relating to employment, education, training, housing and homelessness, benefits, family support care and benefits, health and well being, and crisis support.
The Defence Transition Service
The Defence Transition Service will support people as they transition to civilian life. As part of the introduction of the Defence Holistic Transition Policy, Defence Transition Services (DTS) has been created. DTS is a wholly owned MOD organisation, administered and run by Veterans UK, which is part of Defence Business Services.
If you wish to make a self referral to gain support and advice from Veterans UK you can complete their self referral form.
New addictions service to help soldiers at Catterick Garrison
A pilot scheme to help soldiers at Catterick Garrison recover from alcohol and gambling addictions has now been funded for two years by the army and could be extended to cover other military bases across the UK. The Humankind charity launched the UK’s first MilSMART recovery programme in 2017, specifically aimed at helping serving soldiers.
Experts from the charity’s North Yorkshire Horizons’ drug and alcohol service working in partnership with addiction recovery programme SMART have since successfully offered specialist sessions at Catterick Garrison to help scores of personnel.
Useful links
- Veterans' Gateway - The first point of contact for veterans seeking advice and support
- SSAFA the Armed Forces charity
- Veterans' UK - Help and support for veterans
- Combat Stress - The UK's leading charity for veterans' mental health
- Royal British Legion - The Royal British Legion provides lifelong support for the armed forces community, serving men and women, veterans, and their families
- Help for Heroes
- ABF The Soldiers' Charity - The army's national charity
- New military mental health helpline - The Ministry of Defence has launched the 24/7 military mental health helpline. The number - 0800 323 4444 - is open to serving personnel and their families, allowing them to access the help, advice and support they need anywhere, anytime.
- For those ex-service personnel who are interested in starting a career in a trade visit the RS website.
- Veterans’ Mental Health Complex Treatment Service - This service is for armed forces veterans living in the North of England with complex mental illnesses.
- UCAS has an advice page specifically for members of the Armed Forces community and service leavers who are wanting to apply for a higher education course. The Naval Families Federation have published advice to help service children write their UCAS personal statement.