Council makes pledge to care for ex-service men and women

SERVICEMEN and women are to get priority healthcare in Hull as part of a new pledge to give them a better deal in the community.

The City of Hull Armed Forces and Veterans’ Charter, a formal commitment to honour and respect military service, will be presented in East Park on Sunday after a Drumhead Remembrance Service during Veterans’ Weekend this weekend.

It has been drawn up on behalf of Hull Council, NHS Hull, the Department for Work and Pensions and members of the Hull Military Forum. It will be officially signed on October 4.

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The document will complement the national Military Covenant and is the first local authority military charter of its kind to include merchant seamen who have seen active service.

The charter has delighted forces personnel in the city.

Colonel John Connelly, of 150 (Yorkshire) Transport Regiment, based at Londesborough Barracks, Hull, said: “From a forces point of view it’s really clear that Hull is driving forward with realistic support. Speaking regularly to my peer group, to have that commitment at community level means a massive amount.

“We speak of having a ‘firm base’ in military parlance, that from which we deploy, and Hull is really providing that firm base.

“The community is recognising that in certain circumstances we have got unique requirements and they are standing by to help. Where there are needs, where the military can’t provide that kind of care, it’s appropriate that society provides that support.”

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He added: “To have that recognition from my home town is absolutely fantastic.”

The charter, which is described as a “statement of intent”, pledges improve three “key pathways”: housing and related support; health and wellbeing; and welfare, education, training and employment.

On health, it says: “The armed forces community will enjoy the same standard of, and access to, healthcare as that received by any other citizen in the local community.

“Veterans will receive priority treatment where it relates to a condition which results from their service, subject to clinical need. Those injured in service, whether physically or mentally, will be cared for/enabled in a way which reflects the city’s moral obligation to them whilst respecting the individual’s wishes.”

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Councillor Steve Walker, who developed the charter on behalf of the council, said: “One day they are in uniform and the next in ‘civvy street’, and it can be hard for some to adapt.

“Our armed forces deliver the ultimate public service, risking their lives for their country and our freedom, and many are called to serve in circumstances which leave lasting physical and mental trauma. In our charter, we are offering all who serve and have served, including merchant seamen who have seen active service, practical help and affording them and their families the dignity and respect they deserve.”

Hull has a sizeable veterans population and their ranks are set to swell as troops return from deployment to Germany and Afghanistan, and the services face cuts.

The council will provide a forces co-ordinator, based at the Wilson Centre on Alfred Gelder Street, to signpost servicemen, veterans and their families to the services they need. A sum of £50,000 has been set aside for the project this year, rising to £150,000 next year.

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Honorary Alderman Brian Petch, who founded the Veterans’ Weekend, a free event running between 10am and 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, said: “It all looks set to be a great weekend. It is an honour that this event has been chosen for the presentation of the veterans’ charter.

“This is a practical demonstration of our gratitude and determination to do whatever we can to help ex-service personnel and merchant seamen – a group of brave people whose active service is often overlooked – to settle into civilian life.”

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