Generic and local information for the UK Military community including Serving Personnel, Families, Veterans, and MOD Civilians.
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September 26, 2024
The Military children’s charity, Little Troopers, is celebrating ten years of its ‘Little Trooper of the Month’ award scheme
Established in 2014 to recognise children of our British Armed Forces the charity has awarded medals to 120 children who have been especially brave and resilient in the face of adversity.
The Little Troopers winners are all children who have parents serving in the forces and understand first-hand how challenging life can be growing up with a serving parent. Many of the youngsters have experienced long periods of separation from their serving parent due to deployments and military exercises, as well as frequent house and school moves, on top of other challenging life circumstances at home.
Previous winners have included eight-year-old Rubi Smith from Scotland, who has permanent hearing loss in one ear and has amazed her family by continuing to compete in singing competitions; as well as three-year-old Austin Porter from Chippenham who copes with daily pain caused by chronic pancreatitis and has undergone surgery on several occasions while his Dad has been deployed overseas multiple times.
Stafford: Staffordshire County Council new careers website
Where you can make a difference!
Our new careers website is live! It has a new design and a new ambassador programme that lets you hear directly from our employees about what it's like to work here.
The website, which is the best place to learn about all the jobs and opportunities we have on offer.
On the new website, you can:
➡ Explore our different departments and find out what we do
➡ Search for jobs that match your skills and interests
➡ Learn more about our benefits and career development opportunities
➡ Meet our ambassadors, real employees who talk about their experiences working here.
We're especially excited about our new ambassador programme. We asked colleagues to tell us their career stories, and we were blown away by their passion and dedication.
Information provided by Stafford HIVE
September 25, 2024
Non-UK Nationals: Settlement fees waived for bereaved partners facing destitution
A news article was published recently on Gov.uk, highlighting that people dealing with the death of their partner and facing financial hardship will soon be able to apply to have the application fee for settlement waived. The implementation date in the article is 9 Oct 24.
This update applies equally to the Armed Forces community including veterans: "Bereaved partners of members of HM Armed Forces, Gurkhas or Hong Kong military unit veterans (discharged before 1 July 1997) may also benefit from this fee waiver."
To read the article in full, please go to: Settlement fees waived for bereaved partners facing destitution - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Army HIVE's Non-UK National team can be contacted for further information via this email address: rc-pers-hive-nonuknat-0mailbox@mod.gov.uk
September 24, 2024
Chepstow: Free Swim for Under 16's at a MonLife Leisure Centre
Under-16’s can enjoy a free swim at your local MonLife Active Leisure centre during the following times:
Chepstow Leisure Centre: Saturdays from 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Abergavenny Leisure Centre: Sundays between 10.30am – 11.30am
Monmouth Leisure Centre: Saturdays between 2:45pm – 3:45pm
Caldicot Leisure Centre: Saturdays between 11.30am – 12.45pm
Find out more by clicking here.
Information provided by Wales HIVE Hub.
Celebrating the exam success of our Defence Children Services schools
Proud GCSE students at St John’s School
Mr Richard Sproson (Head Teacher) and Myles at King Richard School (GCSE student)
Defence Children Services (DCS) schools, which support Service children in education and care, are pleased to share the recent exam success of their pupils.
Defence Children Services schools, which are attended by children while their parents are stationed overseas, have some great news to share…
St John’s School and King Richard School in Cyprus are proud to announce the Summer 2024 exam success of their secondary school pupils. These results represent the dedication, resilience, and hard work of students and staff alike.
Applauding the A Level and BTEC results
Defence Children Services (DCS) schools, which support Service children in education and care, are pleased to share the recent exam success of their pupils.
Defence Children Services schools, which are attended by children while their parents are stationed overseas, have some great news to share…
St John’s School and King Richard School in Cyprus are proud to announce the Summer 2024 exam success of their secondary school pupils. These results represent the dedication, resilience, and hard work of students and staff alike.
Applauding the A Level and BTEC results
The results for both schools demonstrate improvements for Year 13 students, made up of 17 and 18 year olds. This year, the average A Level grade for both schools is a grade C. While this has been maintained by King Richard School, it is an improvement for St John’s School, which scored an average D grade in 2023.
Similarly, the outcome for Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) students at both schools has increased from last year and is above the average English national score for 2024.
All students at these schools have been successful in securing a place in their further educational choices, with 98% of students getting their first choices.
Similarly, the outcome for Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) students at both schools has increased from last year and is above the average English national score for 2024.
All students at these schools have been successful in securing a place in their further educational choices, with 98% of students getting their first choices.
September 23, 2024
Service families - help us to better understand the needs, wants, and wishes of children, young people, families, and individuals overseas
Service families, have your say!
Defence Children Services (DCS) has responsibility for the functions, in support of service families related to education and care, previously undertaken by Defence Children and Young People (DCYP). DCS provides a single focus for all issues related to Service children and young people, providing high-quality education at 22 schools and settings in locations around the world. DCS also directly supports Service families, providing advice on a wide range of educational, safeguarding and social care matters both overseas and in the UK.
On behalf of the Defence Safeguarding Partnership Board (DSPB), DCS are undertaking a Local Needs Analysis to inform the future delivery of social work, family support and personal support for all children, young people, families and individuals whilst both assigned and accompanying on overseas postings.
The existing social work and personal family support is provided through a contracted provision by British Forces Social Work Services (BFSWS) who seek to replicate UK (English) “statutory type social care support”. The DSPB wish to consider alternative delivery models to focus on early intervention, prevention and family/individual support, still ensuring the safety and protection of our most vulnerable individuals.
To help DCS consider what the support service needs to look like, we need the help of those who we seek to support. By completing the Local Needs Analysis Feedback Form, which should take no longer than 7 minutes, you can help to shape the future of social care, family support and personal support for you, your family and any entitled individuals overseas.
Please submit your forms by Friday 4th October 2024.
Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust: New Trust funding programme dedicated to supporting specific communities of Veterans
Based on feedback from the Trust’s consultation findings, this programme has been designed to fund projects to improve the quality of life for Veterans who have experienced significant, negative impact which is evidenced to be related to their experience during Service.
What is the Fulfilling Futures programme all about?
The Trust ran a public consultation in 2023, which identified that one of the key areas to focus on was ‘ensuring our Armed Forces communities are not disadvantaged.’ This new programme will focus on supporting Veterans who have faced significant and evident challenges during their Service, which has created barriers or compromised their ability to have a fulfilling Service experience. The consultation findings are available to read on The Trust website.
West Midlands: Volunteers needed for AWS Donnington's Youth Forum

Information provided by: Central HIVE Hub
September 19, 2024
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