West Midland RFCA

Armed Forces Week 2020

Armed Forces Week from 22nd – 27th June was a chance to celebrate our Armed Forces and the role they play in protecting the UK both at home and overseas. The week not only celebrated serving personnel, both regular and reserve, but also those who make up the wider Armed Forces community including veterans, military spouses, cadets and cadet force adult volunteers. Due…

Herefordshire cadets appointed to prestigious roles

Earlier in the year prior to the suspension of face-to-face activities for our cadet forces and lockdown measures being imposed, one of this year’s planned Lord Lieutenants’ Awards ceremonies took place in Herefordshire. Each year the Lord Lieutenant for each county appoints several cadets to become the Lord Lieutenants’ Cadets for that particular year.  These are drawn from the Sea Cadet Corps, Royal…

West Midland RFCA’s virtual celebration and commemoration for VE Day 75

In the lead up to the 75th anniversary of VE Day our Employer Engagement team invited employers who have signed the Armed Forces Covenant to a special virtual talk on Thursday 7th May. Being unable to host any face-to-face events to celebrate and reflect on VE Day, the team decided to take the plunge and host our first virtual event. After welcoming remarks…

Welcoming companies to the Covenant family

We are delighted to announce that the following organisations have signed the Armed Forces Covenant since the start of the new financial year. We are so proud of the support businesses have been able to show during this particularly difficult time and thank each and every one of our Armed Forces Covenant signatories. Our thirteen new signees are: Edusen Tuition Ltd Elwood Recruitment…

A great time to show your support by signing the Armed Forces Covenant

The Coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of many groups in society, a shift in our attitude towards care workers, delivery drivers and shop workers, and many others.  This also has brought home the role the Armed Forces plays in the modern world.  Although it’s not always seen or heavily reported on, the role of our soldiers, sailors and air personnel has always…

Celebrating the women shaping our region

At the beginning of March West Midland Reserve Forces & Cadets Association linked up with West Midlands Women’s Voice to take part in an event to celebrate the women defining our region. ‘Celebrate the roaring West Midlands’ was a day of inspirational panel discussions and presentations to explore and recognise the diversity and strengths of women’s experience across business, arts, culture and sport,…

Celebrating the success of the Cadet Expansion Programme

The Government’s Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) has successfully delivered the ambitious target of 500 parading schools across the UK, six months earlier than the proposed timeline. Originally launched in June 2012 by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, the programme aimed to deliver 100 new cadet units in English state-funded schools by September 2015. Following its initial success the Government committed to…

Employers set their sights on top Defence awards

Our Association’s Employer Engagement team delivered two separate Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Workshops during January for those employers who submitted expressions of interest for the silver and gold level awards under the scheme. This years’ workshops were kindly supported by Bryan Alexander from the Career Transition Partnership, Inspector Lucy Sewell from Warwickshire Police and Stephen Lees from Jaguar Land Rover.  Both organisations are…

Carl Chinn’s guided tour for Gold Alumni

On 29th January West Midland RFCA hosted their annual Gold Alumni Association (GAA) event. This year the event was held in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter with a private tour provided by local historian Carl Chinn. Our GAA is now made up of 17 companies who have met all of the criteria and been awarded one of Gold Employer Recognition Scheme Awards. Of the…