Armed Forces Day, on the 29th of June, is a chance for everyone in the UK to show support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community: from currently serving troops, to service families, veterans and reservists.  Showing support for the Armed Forces provides a much valued morale boost for the troops and their families.

 

At Thales in the UK, we employ nearly 400 military veterans and 70 currently serving reservists across 10 sites.  Additionally, over 70 Thales employees act as adult Combined Cadet Force (CCF) instructors in their spare time. We are proud to employ ex-service personnel and to support external events that highlight the value of veterans in the workplace.

“Thales knows that veterans can mean good business – ex forces are trained and skilled to the highest level, and companies like Thales are lucky enough to benefit from this huge pool of talent. It makes good business sense to build comprehensive and effective wellbeing programmes to support and retain this group of outstanding professionals.”

Mike Seabrook, Company Secretary, Thales in the UK

Since 2014, Thales has sponsored the ‘Military Mind Business Symposium’, organised by Combat Stress, which is the leading veterans’ mental health charity in the UK.  This year’s Military Mind Business Symposium, was held in April and focused on the mental health treatment and support available to veterans in employment, exploring practical ways companies can ensure wellbeing in the workplace.

Experts in the field of military mental health, as well as those in the corporate sector who employ veterans, joined clinical specialists from Combat Stress to discuss the opportunities and challenges for businesses with employees who have served in the Armed Forces.

Armoured Training Subject Matter Expert, Robbie Ross, has represented Thales at the last two Combat Stress Military Minds Symposiums speaking to the delegates about the cross over from military to civilian life and the impact on mental health from a veteran’s perspective. Robbie served as a ‘tankie’ in the British Army for 27 years, first with the Royal Tank Regiment and later with the Royal Dragoon Guards. Robbie is also one of Thales’ dedicated Mental Health First Aiders.

Thales has a heritage of supporting the Armed Forces for over 100 years, and is rightly proud of their commitment to supporting defence as well as many defence charities including the recently launched RAF Benevolent Fund’s Centenary Campaign where we sit on the Advisory Board. The aim of this campaign is to double the number of beneficiaries the Fund supports to 100,000, by 2021. To help achieve this, the campaign is asking the public, as well as the wider RAF community and industry stakeholders, to help find those who have fallen off the radar but urgently need help.

Thales is supporting this by urging everyone to visit www.rafbf.org or call 0300 102 1919 if you know of any RAF veterans or their families who may need support.

As an early signatory of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant, Thales has also made a public commitment to supporting not just defence as a customer, but the Armed Forces community as an important part of our society. Thales wholeheartedly advocates that providing support to the Armed Forces community is commercially sound.