Highland Armed Forces Community Covenant

Public Sector Partners in the Highlands have shown their joint commitment to the Armed Forces by signing an Armed Forces Community Covenant.

The signing paves the way for communities in the Highlands to bid into the £30 million Community Covenant Grant Scheme, which is operated by the Ministry of Defence and financially supports projects, at a local level, which strengthen the ties or the mutual understanding between members of the Armed Forces Community and the wider community in which they live.  Full details of the scheme are available on the MOD and the Council’s websites. 

The Covenant is a voluntary statement of mutual support between a civilian community and its local Armed Forces community and complements the national Covenant established by the Government.

It aims to encourage communities to support the Armed Forces and for the Armed Forces community to do as much as they can to support their local community.  Highland’s Covenant outlines five key outcomes which Partners have agreed to in order to support the Armed Forces.  These outcomes relate to the:

Present at the signing ceremony were representatives from the following main public bodies in Highland along with representatives of the Armed Forces community and Charities:

Council Convener Councillor, Jimmy Gray said: “The Highlands have a strong tradition of supporting the Armed Forces community and this is a great opportunity to formalise this support.”  
                                                          
Lt Col Peter Little from 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (7 SCOTS) and signing on behalf of the Armed Forces said "On behalf of the serving Armed Forces, ex-Service personnel and their respective families, we remain immensely proud and honoured to serve the community, and we are always humbled by the thoughtful and considerable support that we get from the Highlands and the wider community in Scotland. 

“It is important that we continue to foster this bond to help ensure that Service personnel and their families are not disadvantaged by the circumstances of their service and sacrifice, and also to ensure that the community gets maximum reciprocal benefit from the former and serving members of the Armed Forces that live there."

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