Members of the fledgling Wales & West Midlands Gold Alumni Association (WA & WM GAA) held their inaugural meeting on the 22 May 2019. Following a proposal from the holders of the Ministry of Defence’s Employer Recognition Scheme (MoD ERS) Gold Award, an industry led national Gold Alumni Association (GAA) was originally launched in January 2017. With the numbers of those Employers and Businesses achieving the Gold ERS Award increasing, the national GAA recommended that the associations be regionalised to better manage and deliver the terms of reference across the United Kingdom. The WA & WM GAA is a result of this recommendation and has the following mission statement:
“To be an independent, collective voice of enlightened employers that wish to develop best practice, mentor and inspire those wishing to get the most from their Armed Forces Covenants.”
The WA & WM GAA currently has 16 members, they are:
- Jaguar Landrover Limited (WM)
- General Dynamics UK (WA)
- Pertemps Network Group Limited (WM)
- Airbus DS Limited (WA)
- DJ Rees Decorating Services Ltd (WA)
- National Express Limited (WM)
- Bureau Veritas UK Limited (WM)
- Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council (WA)
- City & County of Swansea Council (WA)
- Shropshire Council (WM)
- Wolverhampton City Council (WM)
- West Midlands Fire Service (WM)
- University of South Wales (WA)
- Betsi Cadwaladr UHB (Ysbyty Gwynedd) (WA)
- Cardiff & Vale UHB (University of Wales) (WA)
- The Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WM)
This alumni of model employers have come together and agreed to be leading lights for the Armed Forces Covenant in the region and to lend their support and influence to the MODs Defence Relationship Management organisation. They plan to do this by acting as mentor’s and ‘buddy’ organisations to employers and businesses aspiring to join the Armed Forces Covenant’s growing community, and to encourage them to show their support in such a meaningful way as to attract recognition through the MoD ERS. Meeting twice per year, and hosted in turn by a member of the association, the alumni will feed up issues of interest and concern to the national GAA, whilst also delivering the national message throughout the region.
The GAA will be a very influential and important group, whose support to defence employer relations will be invaluable and much welcomed, we look forward to seeing the alumni grow and develop in size and influence over the coming years.
‘Ducere Exemplo’ (Lead by example)