Everyone who wishes to can now add their name to The Armed Forces Pledge and leave a message of support, creating Britain’s biggest thank you to the more than 1.8 million veterans living in the UK today.
Mark Ormrod, MBE, Veterans’ Foundation Trustee Guy Cartwright and representatives from Scottish grant recipient organisations including Scottish Veterans Residences, Vector24 and Housing Options Scotland were at Whitefoord House, 53 Canongate, Edinburgh, a Scottish Veterans Residences site on Wednesday to promote the Pledge.
“My generation of veterans is disappearing from view,” Mark said. “When I was injured, Afghanistan was everywhere. You turned on the television and you saw it. You saw young men and women coming home with life-changing injuries.
“You saw families waiting at bedsides, families grieving, families suddenly having to rebuild their lives around someone who had come home completely changed – or who wasn’t coming home at all.
“People knew what was happening. But, nearly 19 years later, Afghanistan isn’t on the news. War isn’t sexy anymore – but we’re still here. I’m still here, and my legs aren’t going to grow back.”
The Armed Forces Pledge is intended to show that, however much time has passed, the service and sacrifice of those who served continue to be recognised and valued.
Today’s veterans span generations. They include those who served during National Service and in Northern Ireland, the Falklands and the Balkans, alongside a generation who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and men and women who have left the Armed Forces much more recently.
They are living and working in communities across the country, raising families, building careers, and running businesses. Most make a successful transition into civilian life and will never need specialist support.
But leaving the Armed Forces does not always mean leaving the consequences of service behind. For some veterans and their families, the need for support is immediate. For others, it can emerge years or even decades later, through physical or mental health problems, difficulties with housing or employment, isolation, financial hardship or pressures on family life.
Don’t forget about us
Mark Ormrod MBE, was 24 and serving with 40 Commando Royal Marines in Afghanistan when, on Christmas Eve 2007, he knelt on an improvised explosive device, losing both legs and his right arm. Three weeks later, the previously six-foot-two Royal Marine was told he would never walk again.
With the support of his family, the military community and charities, Mark rebuilt his life and went on to become a multiple-medal-winning Invictus Games competitor, and build a successful new career.
“I had my family, the military community and charities that gave me opportunities, and I know how lucky that makes me,” Mark said. “I’ve had an incredible life. I’ve competed at the Invictus Games, won medals, travelled the world and built a career. People know my story, but there are thousands of veterans whose stories we never hear.
“They’re not at the Invictus Games and they’re not being interviewed, but what they gave matters just as much. They still served our nation, they’re still living with whatever their service left them with, and they’re part of my military family.”
This year marks 20 years since British forces deployed to Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, where Mark would be catastrophically injured. More than 150,000 UK military personnel would serve in Afghanistan during the campaign.
“Some people needed help straight away, while others built careers, raised families and got on with their lives before, ten or twenty years later, something catches up with them,” Mark said. “For some of us, when the uniform comes off, the battle continues.
“That’s what worries me – the veterans you don’t see. The ones who aren’t in the news or at Invictus, whose families might be quietly trying to hold things together. They served this country and then simply disappeared back into everyday life. Don’t forget about them.”
Britain’s biggest thank you to veterans
The Veterans’ Foundation has created the Armed Forces Pledge to give people across Britain a simple way to show that the Armed Forces community has not been forgotten.
By adding their name and leaving a message of support for veterans, serving personnel and their families, they will become part of Britain’s biggest thank you to veterans – recognising the service and sacrifice of the Armed Forces community long after a conflict has disappeared from the headlines or someone has taken off their uniform.
Jane Gurney, Chief Executive of the Veterans’ Foundation, said: “The Armed Forces community is enormously diverse. Behind the word ‘veteran’ are people of different ages, backgrounds and experiences, most of whom are simply getting on with their lives and making an enormous contribution to the communities around them.
“But sometimes service can leave a legacy, and when somebody does need support – whether that is during service, immediately after leaving the Armed Forces or many years later – we want to ensure the right help is there.
“For ten years, the Veterans’ Foundation has backed the organisations closest to those people and their families. We have awarded more than £40m, but we know there is much more to do.
“The Armed Forces Pledge is an opportunity for the whole country to stand alongside our community. It is a thank you for what they have given, but it is also a very simple way of saying: we remember you, we value your service and we are still with you.”
The Veterans’ Foundation was founded in Edinburgh ten years ago. Since 2016, the Foundation has awarded more than £40m through more than 1,500 grants to over 600 organisations supporting veterans, serving personnel and their families across the UK, and has set an ambition to invest £200m in the Armed Forces community by its twentieth anniversary.
To make the Armed Forces Pledge, add your name and leave a message at: veteransfoundation.org.uk/signthepledge
Veterans’ Foundation Ambassador and former Royal Marine Mark Ormrod MBE will formally launch the Pledge at Merchants Hall in Edinburgh on Wednesday evening, at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the Veterans’ Foundation, which was founded in the city in 2016.
